THIRTY 


sehwohs 


By  Thirty 


©     •     •     •  • 


North  Carolina 


Preachers  • 


f 


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 


c 


Rev.  John  Franklin  Crowell,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D.3  President  of  Trinity  College, 

TRINITY  PARK,  DURHAM,  N.  C. 


NORTH  CAROLINA  SERMONS. 

VOL.  III. 


THIRTY  SERMONS 

BY 

THIRTY 

NORTH  CAROLINA  PREAGHERS. 


PRICE: 
BOUND  IN  CLOTH,  $1.00. 


RALEIGH: 

Edited  by  Rev.  Levi  Branson,  D.  D., 

Publisher,  No.  31,  Branson  House. 
1893. 


NOTES. 


1.  Some  years  ago  I  felt  called  to  rescue  some  of  our  Sermon 
Literature  from  oblivion.  I  collected  sixteen  sermons,  which 
composed  Vol.  I.  I  published  and  sold  them  promptly,  mostly 
to  subscribers.  They  are  still  doing  good,  especially  to  the 
masses  who  appreciate  cheap,  good  books. 

2.  Afterwards  I  found  Vol.  II.  called  for.  I  collected  twenty- 
three  sermons,  published  and  sold  them  successfully.  Very 
few  of  either  volume  can  now  be  bought. 

3.  I  here  present  Vol.  III.,  or  "  Thirty  Sermons  from  Thirty 
North  Carolina  Preachers."  Most  of  the  2,000  copies  printed 
are  already  ordered,  and  will  soon  be  in  the  hands  of  the  sub- 
scribers. The  Sermons  represent  six  different  Evangelical 
Denominations. 

4.  This  book  of  300  pages,  large  type,  has  been  prepared  with 
a  view  especially  to  benefit  three  classes  :  (1)  Aged  people  who 
never  get  to  church  ;  (2)  afflicted  people  who,  for  the  time  being, 
are  kept  at  home  ;  (3)  young  enquirers.  I  am  certain  that  all 
these,  and  many  others,  will  be  grealy  benefited  by  reading  these 
short  gospel  sermons. 

5.  In  this  way  the  Lord  aids  me  to  preach — to  help  sound  the 
Gospel  Call,  and  I  rejoice  in  the  good  work. 


LEVI  BRANSON, 


May  6,  1893. 


Editor. 


Copyright,  1893,  by 
Levi  Branson,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 


Edwards  &  Broughton, 
Printers,  Raleigh. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  PAGE. 

Hereditary  Tendencies  to  Sin    17 

By  Rev.  Dr.  E.  L.  Perkins,  of  the  North  Carolina  Local  Min- 
isters' Conference. 

II.  •  £ 

Heavenly  Recognition     .    28 

By  Rev.  H.  T.  Daknall,  Pastor  Presbyte.ian  Church,  Dur- 
ham, N.  C. 

in.  %  St  :w  flP  fefflWl 

The  Duty  op  Forgiveness  .   ...   34 

By  Rev.  Marquis  Lafayette  Wood,  D.  D  ,  M.  E.  C.  S,  (late 
Missionary  to  China). 

IV. 

The  Christian's  Safety    . .    .    . .    44 

By  Rev.  Shockley  D.  Adams,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  North 
Carolina  Conference,  M.  E.  C.  S. 

V. 

Heavenly  Citizenship     53 

By  Rev.  W.  D.  Morton,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Henderson  Presby- 
terian Church. 

VI. 

Stoning  Jesus ._ _     61 

By  Rev.  Jonathan  Sanford,  D.  D.,  of  the  North  Carolina 

Conference,  M.  E.  C.  S. 

VII. 

"At  Thy  Word".   77 

By  Rev.  W.  S.  Rone.  Presiding  Elder  of  the  North  Carolina 
Conference,  M.  E.  s. 

VIII. 

Christ  as  a  Friend     87 

By  Rev.  Robert  P.  Pell,  Presbyterian  Evangelist. 

IX. 

The  Atonement  . . .    . .    98 


By  Rev.  Joshua  Brockett.  D.  D..  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church, 
and  Professor  in  the  Colored  Normal  School  at  Warrenton, 
N.  C. 

On  the  Nature  op  Faith      105 

By  Rev.  J.  E.  Bkistowe,  of  the  North  Carolina  Conference, 
M.  E.  C.  S. 


14 


Contents. 


XI.  PAGE. 

The  Divine  Inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  112 

By  Rev.  Solomon  Pool,  D.  D.,  of  the  Western  North  Carolina 
Conference,  M.  E.  C.  S. 

XII. 

Christ's  Coming   122 

By  Rev.  J.  A.  Reagan.  A.  M  ,  M.  D.  (Weaverville  College), 
of  the  North  Carolina  Local  Ministers'  Conference. 

XIII 

"If."   136 

By  Rev.  T.  J.  Ogbttrn,  of  the  North  Carolina  Methodist  Pro- 
testant Conference. 

XIV. 

Dark  Days— Man's  View  and  God's  View  of  Calamities,  144 

By  Rev.  Jesse  H.  Page,  of  the  North  Carolina  Conference, 
M.  E.  C.  S. 

XV. 

The  Rich  Fool  150 

By  Rev.  J.  F.  Butt,  of  the  North  Carolina  Local  Ministers' 
Conference. 

XVI. 

The  Love  of  Christ  156 

By  Rev.  James  H.  Cordon,  D.  D.,  of  the  North  Carolina  Con- 
ference, M.  E.  C.  S. 

XVII. 

The  Duty  and  Destiny  of  the  Church.   169 

By  Rev.  F.  L.  Reid,  D.  D.,  editor  of  The  Raleigh  Christian 
Advocate  and  President  of  Greensboro  Female  College. 

XVIII. 

Work  While  it  is  Day  184 

By  Rev.  E.  C.  Sell,  of  the  North  Carolina  Conference,  M. 
E.  C.  S. 

XIX. 

Eternal  Life  187 

By  Rev.  Solomon  Lea,  of  the  North  Carolina  Local  Minis- 
ters' Conference,  aim  Principal  of  Leasuuig  Academy. 

XX. 

The  Gospel  Call   191 

By  Rev.  Levi  Branson,  A.  M.,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  North 
Carolina  Local  Ministers'  Coniorence. 


Contents.  15 

XXI.  PAGE. 

Christ  and  the  Church    203 

By  Rev.  W.  W.  Stagey,  of  the  Christian;Church. 

XXII. 

The  Great  Business  of  Life   213 

By  Rev.  R.  Harper  Whctakgr,  D.  D.,  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Local  Ministers'  Conference. 

XXIII. 

Unity  in  Diversity  226 

By  Rev.  W.  P.  Williams  (Davidson  College),  of  theJNorth 
Carolina  Local  Ministers'  Conference. 

XXIV. 

The  Transcendent  Value  of  a  Good  Name   232 

By  Rev.  W.  H.  Moore,  I).  D.,  of  the  North  Carolina  Confer- 
ence, M.  E.  C.  S. 

XXV. 

The  Greatest  Book  in  the  World     243 

By  Rev.  J.  W.  Carter,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

XXVI. 

The  Model  Layman— Philemon   258 

By  Rev.  J.  W.  Jenkins,  of  the  North  Carolina  Conference, 
M.  E.  C.  S. 

XXVII. 

The  Growing  Responsibility  of  the  Ages   266 

By  Rev.  G.  A.  Ogeesby,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Conference,  M.  E.  C.  IS. 

XXVIII. 

The  Living  Saviour    286 

By  Rev.  J.  J.  Hall.,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Raleigh  Baptist  Tab- 
ernacle. » 
XXIX. 

The  Lost  Legacy   ...  . .    ...    .  .293 

By  Rev.  P.  H.  Fleming,  Pastor  Christian  Church  at  Graham. 

XXX. 

On  the  Divinity  of  Christ   310 

By  Theo.  H.  Hill,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 


Rev.  Dr.  James  A.  Reagan,  A.  M., 

WEAVERVILLE  COLLEGE,  H.  C. 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 

VOL.  III. 


HEREDITARY  TENDENCIES  TO  SIN. 

By  Dr.  E.  L.  Perkins, 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Local  Ministers  Conference. 


"The  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set 
on  edge."— Ezekiel,  xviii:  2. 

This  is  the  language  of  a  proverb  that  had  become 
common  among  the  Jewish  people.  It  was  equal  to 
saying,  our  fathers  have  tasted  the  sweets  of  sin  and 
we  have  an  hereditary  appetite  for  the  same  enjoy- 
ment. It  was  probably  given  sometimes  as  an  excuse 
for  the  excesses  committed.  As  an  excuse,  it  would 
be  thrown  in  this  shape  :  We  are  not  so  much  to 
blame  for  our  love  of  the  evil  habits  we  pursue, 
because  it  is  the  natural  result  of  appetites  inherited 
from  our  ancestors.  The  prophet  Ezekiel,  as  directed 
by  the  Almighty,  warned  the  people  of  this'  saying, 
and  assured  them  that  every  man  should  be  account- 
able for  his  own  sins,  and,  as  a  consequence,  "  The 
soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die."  It  is  every  "man's 
duty  to  fight  evil,  not  to  excuse  its  indulgence,  and 
for  the  neglect  of  this  duty  men  are  condemned., 

We  propose  to  show  that  any  indulgence  in  sin, 
not  only  embarrasses  our  own  return  to  the  path  of 
rectitude,  but  throws  innumerable  stumbling-blocks 
2 


18 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


in  the  way  of  our  children,  so  that  while  a  man  is 
damning  himself  he  is  helping  largely  to  damn  his 
posterity.  This  is  a  fearful  thought,  but  true  as  it 
is  alarming,  as  you  will  perceive  by  the  reasons  given. 

We  shall  notice  two  ways  in  which  parents  entail 
ruin  upon  their  children.  First,  by  evil  example; 
and  second,  by  transmitting  hereditary  traits  of  an 
evil  tendency. 

1.  By  evil  example,  we  mean  those  expressions  or 
actions  in  the  presence  of  children  which  lead  to  a 
discordant  or  vicious  life.  Hardly  any  trait  in  a 
child's  character  is  more  strongly  marked  than  what 
a  French  writer,  Alibert,  calls  "  The  instinct  of  imi- 
tation." Every  child,  as  soon  as  it  is  capable  of  exer- 
cising its  will  over  its  own  limbs,  displays  this  instinct. 
The  boy  who  gallops  over  the  floor  on  his  stick-horse, 
and  the  girl  who  puts  her  doll  into  a  little  cradle, 
show  very  plainly  that  the  imitative  instinct  is  there, 
and  as  they  grow  larger  and  acquire  more  power, 
they  approach  nearer  to  the  real  conduct  of  their 
exemplars.  Many  crimes  and  many  virtuous  actions 
owe  their  origin  to  this  overwhelming  desire  to  imi- 
tate what  we  see  and  hear.  So  completely  is  this  the 
case  that  in  many  instances  the  act  may  be  regarded 
as  motiveless,  outside  of  the  motive  to  imitate.  In 
some  instances  acts  spring  from  nervous  sympathy. 
A  child  enters  a  room  and  finds  all  within  laughing 
or  crying,  and  instantly  begins  to  laugh  or  cry  with- 
out knowing  any  cause  of  action.  While  there  is 
little  or  no  moral  in  such  acts,  it  shows  that  the 
instinct  of  imitation  is  deeply  embedded  in  our  natures, 


Hereditary  Tendencies  to  Sin. 


19 


that  it  is  irrepressible  and  will  assert  itself  under  all 
conditions  of  life.  It  is  very  clear  that  there  is  a 
potency  in  social  environments  that  few  have  the 
power  to  resist.  There  is  a  constant  tendency  to  drift 
or  whirl  with  the  current  we  are  in,  most  especially 
if  that  current  be  broad  and  strong.  It  is  well  known 
that  by  successive  generations  imitating  their  parents 
and  associates,  national  customs,  usages  and  lan- 
guage are  formed,  and  thus  communities  of  men 
acquire  that  distinction  and  difference  which  so 
strongly  characterizes  one  people  from  another. 

There  are  persons  in  the  world  who  have  very  lit- 
tle will-power,  and  at  the  same  time  have  great  nerv- 
ous sympathy,  with  the  desire  to  imitate  strongly 
developed.  With  such  persons  the  power  of  a  dom- 
inant idea  becomes  almost  irresistible.  Surrounded 
by  good  examples,  they  will  be  foremost  in  good 
works;  but  place  them  under  evil  influences  and 
they  will  hasten  on  in  the  path  to  ruin.  Such  per- 
sons will  be  always  following  in  the  direction  which 
offers  the  least  resistance.  Children  whose  .wills 
have  been  subject  to  the  dictations  of  their  parents 
and  teachers,  are  generally  plastic,  and  consequently 
subject  to  surrounding  influences.  They  are  like  the 
dry  sponge,  ready  to  imbibe  the  first  moisture  that 
approaches  it.  Hence,  we  see  the  grave  importance 
of  securing  for  them  the  best  examples  in  the  outset 
of  life. 

As  parental  example  is  the  first  with  which  the 
child  comes  in  contact,  it  is  the  first  to  turn  the  cur- 
rent of  life  in  the  direction  of  evil  or  good,  and  to 


20 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


shape  its  future  destiny.  The  child  catches  its  first 
inspiration  in  a  desire  to  imitate,  and  what  it  begins 
it  repeats  by  habit.  "  Habit  is  the  result  of  an  act 
frequently  repeated,"  and  once  a  habit  is  formed  it 
becomes  a  controlling  force,  in  some  natures,  quite 
irresistible.  The  act  is  sometimes  repeated,  against 
the  will,  without  any  reason  for  it,  simply  because  it 
is  habit,  either  of  body  or  mind.  There  is  no  resting 
place  for  evil  habit  once  formed.  Its  tendency  is  to 
rush  on,  like  the  boulder  loosened  on  the  side  of  the 
mountain,  accumulating  momentum  and  increasing 
in  velocity  as  it  sweeps  toward  the  plains  below. 
The  prophet  recognized  this  force  when  he  exclaimed, 
"  Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard 
his  spots?  then  may  ye  also  do  good,  that  are  accus- 
tomed to  do  evil."    Jer.  xiii :  23. 

It  is  an  accepted  maxim  "  that  those  acts  are  most 
easily  and  well  done  which  are  oftenest  done."  This 
rule  applies  to  the  habits  of  the  mind  as  well  as  of 
the  muscles.  Habit  becomes  "the  kindest  friend  or 
the'cruelest  foe  to  human  welfare,"  according'  to  its 
tendencies.  It  is  the  privilege  of  all  parents,  by 
early  training,  to  direct  their  children  into  happy 
methods  of  thought  and  action.  But  unfortunately, 
many  parents  are  reckless  of  their  example,  either 
in  language  or  action,  and  the  children  are  led  astray 
by  their  evil  surroundings.  "  The  parents  eat  sour 
grapes  and  the  children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge,"  and 
when  the  Lord  speaks  to  the  children  we  hear  him 
say,  "  As  your  fathers  did  so  do  ye." 

This  subject  teaches  us  that  we  cannot  be  too 


Hereditary  Tendencies  to  Sin.  21 


deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of  placing 
pure  examples  before  our  children,  and  teaching 
them  to  shun  evil  habits  as  "  the  contagion  of  a 
deadly  pestilence."  We  all  know  that  by  one  course 
of  conduct  life  is  exalted,  made  happy  and  honora- 
ble, while  by  an  opposite  course  life  is  debased,  made 
miserable  and  thrown  under  a  cloud  of  disgrace.  To 
put  the  children  in  either  of  these  courses  is  a  work 
belonging  to  parents.  Parental  precept  and  example 
are  the  two  sides  of  the  great  mould  in  which  char- 
acter is  cast.  If  the  moulds  are  rough  the  image 
will  be  blurred  and  misshapen ;  if  smooth  and  pol- 
ished, the  image  will  reflect  credit  upon  its  work- 
manship. Let  us  never  forget  that  in  a  vast  majority 
of  instances  men  and  women  are,  in  their  characters, 
a  reflection  of  parental  influence,  and  whatever  we 
would  that  our  children  should  be,  let  us  try  to  be- 
come that  thing  ourselves.  This  is  the  only  safe 
rule  either  for  time  or  eternity. 

2.  Secondly,  we  notice  that  parents  entail  ruin' 
upon  their  children  by  transmitting  an  hereditary 
taint. 

By  hereditary  taint  we  mean  that  physical,  men- 
tal and  moral  corruption  transmitted  from  parents 
to  children,  and  which  renders  the  children,  thus 
corrupted,  less  capable  of  discharging  the  duties  of 
life  than  those  who  have  sound  blood,  sound  intel- 
lects and  proper  impulses.  This  brings  us  into  a  field 
of  reflection  the  most  revolting  and  the  most  alarm- 
ing we  could  be  called  to  survey.  We  tremble  as  we 
approach,  knowing  that  at  every  step  the  most  pol- 


22 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


luted  scenes  uncover  themselves  before  us.  It  is  a 
very  common  and  true  saying  that  "  like  begets  like," 
and  the  scriptures  recognize  this  truth  in  the  declara- 
tion that  "  a  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit," 
while  "  a  corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit." 
Any  physiologist  will  tell  you  that  parents  affected 
with  cancer,  scrofula,  erysipelas,  pulmonary  con- 
sumption, or  any  other  blood  taint,  will  transmit 
that  taint  to  their  children.  This  is  a  fact  known 
and  recognized  throughout  the  medical  world.  It  is 
just  as  true  of  disease  as  it  is  of  the  features  of  races 
and  tribes  of  men  and  breeds  of  animals.  Now,  a 
child  born  into  the  world  with  an  irritable  nervous 
system,  shattered  by  disease  transmitted  or  lying 
atent,  only  wanting  a  favorable  moment  for  devel- 
opment, cannot  perform  the  duties  of  life  with  that 
satisfaction  which  belongs  to  those  who  are  sound  in 
every  part.  Some  families  of  children  die  easy,  that 
is,  it  takes  but  little  sickness  to  kill  them,  and  the 
physician  often  regrets  the  loss  of  his  young  patient, 
knowing  that  the  disease  ought  to  have  been  quite 
curable  in  one  of  sound  blood.  But  people  of  heredi- 
tary taint  intermarry,  and  the  offspring  shares  a 
double  portion  of  vitiated  blood.  With  them,  life  is 
not  a  happy  display  of  health  and  strength,  but  a  sea- 
son* of  weakness,  and  pain,  and  nervousness,  and 
irresolution.  Such  children  cannot  battle  with  the 
troubles  of  life  without  feeling  that  their  lot  is  one 
of  peculiar  hardship.  It  will  be  well  if  they  have 
grace  enough  not  to  murmur  against  Providence. 
Parents,  by  dissipation,  lasciviousness  and  extrava- 


Hereditary  Tendencies  to  Sin.  23 


gant  conduct,  contract  diseases  that  run  like  fire 
through  the  blood  of  their  descendants,  and  malig- 
nant ulcers,  ponderous  abscesses,  tormenting  pains, 
nervous  prostration  and  a  thousand  evils  follow  in 
the  trail  of  one  debauched  life.  A  single  night's 
debauch  has  often  entailed  innumerable  evils  upon 
the  posterity  of  the  debauchee  and  spread  desolation 
through  succeeding  generations.  No  wonder  that 
when  the  voice  of  heaven  is  heard  on  the  subject  it 
comes  in  words  like  these,  "  Cursed  shall  be  the  fruit 
of  thy  body  ;"  "  The  seed  of  evil-doers  shall  never  be 
renowned."  Hence  God,  in  His  wisdom  and  good-  . 
ness,  has  often  seen  fit  to  cut  off  whole  families  from 
the  earth,  and  sometimes  whole  nations  have  shared 
the  same  fate  It  was  a  mercy  thus  to  end  a  blood 
that  had  passed  beyond  the  pale  of  redemption. 

But  the  worst  feature  of  all,  we  have  yet  to  approach. 
If  the  transmission  of  diseased  blood  was  all  the  trou- 
ble there  would  be  more  ground  for  hope,  but  unfor- 
tunately appetites  and  passions  are  inherited.  The 
peculiar  tempers  of  parents  are  transmitted  to  their 
children  with  as  much  certainty  as  diseased  blood. 
Drunken  parents,  as  a  general  rule,  have  drunken 
children,  while  the  sons  of  gluttony  can  point  to 
their  fathers  as  being  the  fountain  of  their  inherited 
appetites.  Parents  of  irritable  tempers  transmit  these 
tempers  with  their  blood,  and  then  make  them  still  * 
more  certain  by  their  example  That  peculiar  con- 
dition of  the  brain  that  gives  rise  to  intense  passion 
is  one  of  the  things  that  seldom  fails  to  repeat  itself 
in  posterity.    Sometimes  the  better  influence  of  one  of 


24 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


the  parents  may  overcome  the  evil  tendencies  derived 
from  the  other,  and  a  part  or  all  the  children  for  one 
generation  may  be  saved  from  the  evil ;  but  it  is  sad 
to  reflect  upon  the  fact  that  the  baleful  influence  of 
both  parents  often  overwhelm  the  children,  and  carry 
them  like  a  whirlwind  across  the  burning  plains  of  a 
physical,  mental  and  moral  degeneracy.  Idiocy  has 
its  tendency  to  repeat  itself  in  one  family  ;  apoplexy 
in  another,  epilepsy  in  another,  and  so  of  other  dis- 
eases arising  from  impure  blood.  Sometimes  heredi- 
tary diseases  are  known  to  leap  over  one  generation, 
to  break  forth  with  renewed  violence  in  the  next. 
This  is  a  well  known  fact,  for  which  science  has  not 
been  able  to  give  a  satisfactory  reason.  In  like  man- 
ner mental  and  moral  defects,  violent  tempers  and 
uncontrollable  appetites  and  passions  seem  to  suspend 
in  one  generation  to  reappear  in  the  next.  This 
thing  has  been  a  snare  to  thousands  of  good  people 
who  have  intermarried  where  the  evil  was  supposed 
to  have  been  cured,  but  was  only  suspended.  When 
too  late  the  error  has  been  detected.  FewT  persons 
appear  to  be  as  wide-awake  on  this  subject  as  the 
interests  of  the  community  demand. 

A  man's  thoughts  and  emotions  are  the  instru- 
ments that  chisel  out  the  monument  of  his  character, 
and  that  character  is  good  or  bad  according  to  the 
purity  or  impurity  of  his  thoughts  and  emotions.  As 
mental  and  physical  peculiarities  are  transmitted 
from  generation  to  generation,  and  as  our  modes  of 
thought  and  impulse  are  governed  by  these  peculiar- 
ities, it  follows  that  character  is  hereditary.    As  char- 


Hereditary  Tendencies  to  Sin. 


25 


acter  fixes  our  destiny,  for  time  and  eternity,  it  becomes 
us  to  watch  with  the  deepest  anxiety  every  ten- 
dency to  change  for  better  or  worse.  Does  it  follow, 
because  character  is  hereditary,  that  it  is  unalterable  ? 
By  no  means.  Man's  will  is  given  to  him  that  he 
may  work  changes  in  himself,  as  well  as  in  the 
objects  around  him.  The  rocks  and  trees  must 
remain  what  they  are,  with  all  their  peculiarities, 
because  they  have  no  will  to  order  a  change.  They 
must  abide  the  course  of  Nature,  but  man  can  choose 
and  determine  for  himself,  to  be  or  not  to  be,  so  far 
as  character  is  concerned.  The  man  who  has  inher- 
ited a  smooth  disposition,  and  has  been  eariy  trained 
by  good  examples,  and  brought  into  good  habits, 
finds  little  difficulty  in  passing  on  up  to  a  higher 
plane  of  Christian  duty.  But  the  man  who  has 
inherited  an  irritable  temper,  a  passionate  disposition 
and  depraved  appetite,  finds  himself  hedged  in  with 
difficulties  that  will  require  an  immense  struggle  to 
overcome  before  he  can  reach  the  planes  of  Christian 
manliness,  and  once  he  has  reached  that  plane,  he  is 
beset  with  snares  and  temptations  throughout  the  " 
journey  of  life.  He  has  to  cultivate  a  will-power  that 
the  other  has  already  inherited,  just  as  the  son  of  a 
poor  man  has  to  build  a  fortune  while  the  heir  of  the 
rich  has  his  fortune  already  in  hand.  But  exercise 
gives  strength,  and  he  who  wins  a  victory  by  great 
effort  will  be  better  qualified  for  the  next  assault. 

We  cannot  excuse  ourselves,  then,  by  saying  that 
our  teeth  are  on  edge  because  our  fathers  ate  sour 
grapes.    We  may  deplore  the  fact,  but  we  have  the 


26 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


use  of  our  wills  to  choose  or  refuse;  it  falls  within 
the  range  of  our  duty  to  recover  for  ourselves  that 
which  our  fathers  have  lost.  The  fortunes  that 
have  been  lost  by  indolent  parents  have  often  been 
recovered  by  industrious  children.  Character-build- 
ers may  do  the  same.  The  struggle  may  be  long  and 
arduous,  but  the  reward  will  be  satisfactory. 

We  cannot  close  our  eves  upon  the  fact  that 
inherited  passions  and  appetites  have  been  the  great- 
est barriers  in  the  way  of  advancing  reformation. 
To  gratify  these  passions  and  appetites,  education  has 
been  neglected,  the  intellects  of  children  have  been 
dwarfed,  and  incorrigible  ignorance  has  stood  senti- 
nel over  the  thoughts  and  emotions,  to  keep  back  the 
agencies  of  light  and  knowledge  Ignorance  has  for 
its  relief-guard  a  host  of  the  most  bitter  prejudices, 
and  thus  the  entrance  of  better  principles  has  been 
effectually  kept  at  bay.  Where  ignorance  abounds 
passion  is  stronger  than  reason,  and  under  the  sway 
of  unbridled  passions  and  unholy  desires  the  soul 
is  ever  ready  to  be  caught  up  in  a  whirlwind  of 
excitement  and  lifted  beyond  the  domains  of  virtu- 
ous reflections.  To  diminish  crime,  then,  of  every 
description,  we  see  that  the  great  remedy  is  to  teach 
self-control.  We  cannot  lay  too  much  stress  upon 
this  point.  Bring  the  emotions  in  subordination  to 
the  will,  and  the  foundation  is  laid  on  which  to  build 
any  kind  of  character  you  may  choose  to  erect. 
Neglect  that  point,  and  all  your  labor  is  lost. 

When  we  see  the  inebriate,  with  tear-bedimmed 
eyes,  going  to  spend  the  last  dime  of  a  fortune  for 


Hereditary  Tendencies  to  Sin. 


27 


which  his  father  toiled,  and  against  the  remon- 
strances of  all  that  are  near  and  dear  to  him,  we  see 
an  instance  where  the  power  of  the  will  is  submerged 
by  appetites  and  impulses  inherited  or  acquired,  and 
where  self-control  has  been  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of 
sensual  gratification.  Our  great  teachers  are  not 
those  who  convey  the  greatest  amount  of  information 
in  a  given  time,  but  those  who  are  most  successful  in 
giving  lessons  of  self-restraint.  We  can  heartily 
subscribe  to  the  saying  that  "  A  low  education  which 
teaches  self-control,  is  better  than  a  high  education 
which  fails  in  this  achievement." 

Our  propensities  to  sin,  whether  inherited  or  ac- 
quired, assume  all  the  force  of  habit,  and  require 
an  increasing  vigilance  and  unremitting  toil  to  con- 
quer them.  Let  us  learn  not  to  excuse  ourselves, 
but  to  fight  manfully,  knowing  that  he  who  fights 
the  hardest  battle  wins  the  highest  applause.  Excuse 
yourselves  as  you  may,  and  still  there  comes  against 
you  a  projectile  from  the  divine  catapult:  "  The  soul 
that  sinneth  it  shall  die."  Your  personal  responsi- 
bility to  God  can  never  be  evaded.  If  your  parents 
have  thrown  stumbling-blocks  in  your  way  you  are 
required  to  remove  them,  and  if  your  task  is  hard 
the  crown  of  your  reward  is  so  much  the  brighter. 
He  who  gains  the  greatest  number  of  victories  has 
the  greatest  triumph,  and  the  rewards  of  eternity  are 
made  up  upon  the  principle  that  the  Son  of  man 
shall  deal  to  everyone  "  according  to  his  works." 
Every  victory  you  have  won  will  fix  another  spark- 
ling gem  in  the  crown  of  your  rejoicing. 


28  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


HEAVENLY  RECOGNITION.' 

By  Rev.  H.  T.  Darnall, 
Pastor  Presbyterian  Church,  Durham,  N.  C. 

*  *  *  "  now  I  know  in  part;  but  then  shall  I  know  even  as  also  I 
am  known."— I.  Corinthians,  xiii:  12. 

It  is  a  question  of  no  little  difficulty  to  determine 
what  the  difference  shall  be  between  our  present 
bodily  state  where  soul  and  body  are  united,  and 
that  in  which  we  shall  be  out  of  the  body,  and  we 
are  dependent  for  its  solution  upon  the  Word  of  God. 
It  would,  seem,  however,  first  of  all,  that  there  is  no 
warrant  whatever  for  the  materialistic  idea  that  the 
soul  is  unable  to  feel  or  to  act  without  bodily  organs. 
The  state  of  trance,  prophetic  vision,  the  apostle's 
being  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven  and  hearing 
unutterable  things,  would  all  seem  to  point  in  the 
opposite  direction.  Still,  the  question  whether  we 
shall  know  the  loved  ones  who  have  gone  before  us 
when  we  pass  into  eternity  is  one  that  interests  us 
all  and  must  be  considered  in  the  light  of  Scripture, 
not  so  much  by  direct  affirmation  as  by  reasonable 
inference.  We  know  they  have  not  ceased  to  exist, 
and,  if  saved,  are  in  heaven.  But  when  we  enter 
that  many-mansioned  habitation,  shall  we  know 
them  ? 

"  When  the  holy  angels  meet  us, 
As  we  go  to  join  their  band; 
Shall  we  know  the  friends  that  greet  us 
In  that  glorious  spirit-land?" 


Heavenly  Recognition. 


29 


Millions  have  gone  through  the  gateway  of  death, 
but  none  have  returned  to  tell  us  of  what  is  there,  so 
that  we  cannot  adduce  the  testimony  of  experience. 
Human  philosophy  cannot  give  us  any  certain  light, 
its  speculations  teach  us  little  or  nothing.  And  yet 
Reason  would  point  in  favor  of  recognition,  rather 
than  against  it.  It  is  reasonable  that  those  we  have 
known  and  loved  here,  we  shall  know  and  love  in 
heaven.  It  would  be  irrational  to  suppose  that  any 
such  transformation  shall  take  place  at  death  as  shall 
destroy  the  affections  God  has  put  into  our  hearts 
and  has  bidden  us  to  cherish.  It  would  be  a  dreary 
thought  that  human  friendships  are  only  for  earth  ; 
that  they  end  at  death,  and  that  we  shall  enter 
heaven,  one  by  one,  as  strangers  in  a  strange  land, 
unremembered  and  unrecognized  by  those  we  have 
loved  and  who  have  loved  us  in  this  world ;  that  the 
mother  who  has  watched  with  tenderest  love,  in  sick- 
ness and  in  health,  the  child  that  has  gone  before 
should  be  to  that  child  in  heaven  as  if  she  had  never 
known  it.  It  is  cold,  hard,  repulsive.  We  know 
that  love  is  right;  God  is  love,  and  commands  us  to 
love  one  another.  All  the  divine  precepts  unite  in 
this.  Love  lasts  forever.  Friends  in  Christ  here 
shall  meet  as  friends  there. 

Again,  the  continuance  of  memory  in  after  life  is 
in  the  same  direction.  We  shall  not  forget  the  expe- 
riences of  our  earth-life.  We  shall  remember  that 
we  were  sinners  and  were  saved  by  grace.  In  the 
parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus  Abraham  says,  "Son, 
remember  that  thou  in  thy  lifetime  receivedst  thy 


30  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


good  things."  So,  too,  we  know  we  must  give  account 
to  God  for  all  that  we  have  done  on  earth.  Shall  we, 
then,  remember  everything  else,  and  yet,  in  regard 
to  the  closest,  sweetest  ties  of  earth,  that  so  largely 
influenced  our  thoughts,  words  and  actions  here, 
memory  shall  be  a  blank?  Those  who  have  loved 
and  helped  us,  whom  we  have  loved  and  helped, 
shall  they  be  forgotten  forever?  And  if  memory 
lives  on,  and  love  lives  on,  can  there  fail  to  be  re- 
union and  recognition  in  the  life  beyond  ? 

"  If  all  be  swept  from  memory,  and  no  more 
A  recognition  win, 
Than  if  no  breathing  life  had  gone  before — 
Than  if  they  had  not  been: 

The  tender  things,  the  nameless  ministries 

That  once  made  life  so  fair — 
The  sweet  experience  of  a  thousand  things — 

Could  any  angel  share  ? 

Nay,  let  me  hold  the  sweet  conclusion  fast. 

That  the  pure  memories  given 
To  help  our  joy  on  earth,  when  earth  is  past, 

Shall  help  our  joy  in  heaven." 

But  to  come  to  Scripture,  when  of  any  of  God's 
ancient  people  it  was  said  "  He  died  and  was 
gathered  to  his  fathers,"  or  "to  his  people,"  the 
statement  cannot  refer  simply  to  the  burial  of  the 
body.  Abraham  was  buried  far  away  from  the  rest- 
ing-place of  his  fathers.  Moses  was  "  gathered  to 
his  fathers,"  and  yet  Moses  was  buried  on  Mount 
Nebo,  "and  no  man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre." 
Jacob  "yielded  up  the  ghost  and  was  gathered  to 


Heavenly  Recognition. 


31 


his  fathers";  yet  he  was  not  buried  for  forty  days 
afterwards.  The  meaning  evidently  is  that  the  de- 
parting man  went  to  join  his  ancestors  in  the  spirit 
world,  and  the  thought  is  that  of  one's  friends  and 
kindred  gathered  and  waiting  to  receive  him.  "  I 
shall  go  to  him,  but  he  shall  not  return  to  me,"  cries 
David  on  the  death  of  his  child  ;  he  plainly  believed 
his  child  was  yet  alive,  and  when  his  own  course  was 
ended  he  would  meet  him,  know  him  and  love  him 
as  before.  Recognition  runs  all  through  th.e  parable 
of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus.  Abraham  knew  the 
rich  man,  for  he  recalls  his  life  to  him.  The  rich 
man  recognized  Lazarus,  and  also  recognized  Abra- 
ham whom  he  had  never  known  in  the  flesh.  In 
the  mount  of  transfiguration,  also,  Moses  and  Elijah 
appear  as  companions,  although  Moses  was  in  heaven 
five  hundred  years  before  Elijah.  Peter,  James  and 
John,  under  that  heavenly  influence,  seem  to  have 
known  who  Moses  and  Elijah  were.  Our  Lord  once 
said,  "  Make  to  yourselves  friends  of  (by  means  of) 
the  mammon  of  unrighteousness"  (a  name  for 
money),  i.  e.,  make  friends  by  doing  good  with  your 
means,  "  that  when  ye  fail  they  may  receive  you 
into  everlasting  habitations" — they  whom  you  have 
befriended  and  helped  will  welcome  you  into  those 
eternal  habitations.  But  more  than  this:  Heaven 
is  a  home,  a  place  of  "many  mansions."  It  is  our 
Father's  house;  we  are  his  children  ;  but  can  we  con- 
ceive of  a  home,  a  father  and  children,  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  family  not  know  each  other  ?  We  have 
all  felt  the  sadness  of  loneliness— shall  heaven  cut  us 


32 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


off  from  the  tender  intimacies  of  affection?  Is  it 
some  cold,  inhospitable  land  without  welcome  or 
greeting,  as  when  some  ship  touches  the  shore  and 
the  poor  immigrant  comes  off  alone,  knowing  no  one 
at  the  wharf,  receiving  no  word  or  smile  of  recogni- 
tion, and  yet  we  know  the  dearest  and  best  of  earth  are 
there?  Is  that  all  Jesus  meant  when  He  said,  "Let 
not  your  heart  be  troubled  ?"  Or  is  it  not  rather 

"  As  one  who  travel-worn  and  weary — 
Weary  of  wandering  thro'  many  scenes — 
At  length  returning  homeward,  sees  afar  off 
The  white  cliffs  of  his  father-land;  and  ere 
The  laboring  ship  touches  its  sacred  soil 
Leaps  on  the  pier,  while  round  him  press 
His  children,  kith  and  friends,  who  in  a  breath 
Ask  of  his  welfare,  and  with  joyous  tongues 
Pour  all  their  love  into  his  thirsting  ear." 

"  What  is  our  hope  or  joy,  or  crown  of  rejoicing?  n 
says  Paul  to  the  Thessalonians,  "  are  not  even  you 
in  the  presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  His  com- 
ing?" Did  he  not  expect  to  meet  and  know  then 
those  he  had  loved  and  led  as  a  pastor  on  earth? 
Death  does  not  destroy  personality,  the  heavenly  life 
cannot  blot  out  the  memories  or  influences  of  the 
earthly.  The  characters  we  build  here  will  be  per- 
fected, but  surely  not  destroyed  there.  Whatever  is 
good  and  true  and  pure  and  lovely  in  us  we  shall 
keep  forever.  Life  is  but  one;  it  begins  here,  it  con- 
tinues there — death  is  but  a  stepping-stone  to  the  life 
beyond.  Death  came  by  sin,  and  the  sundering  of 
earthly  ties  is  one,  at  least,  of  its  consequences ;  but 
Jesus  came  to  abolish  death,  to  lift  off  the  curse  ;  and 


Heavenly  Recognition.  33 

shall  death  be  no  more  and  yet  its  consequents  con- 
tinue? When  we  reach  heaven  we  shall  die  no 
more,  but  shall  we  have  to  begin  to  know  each  other 
over  again?  Is  this  what  Paul  means  when  he 
says,  "  Then  shall  I  know,  even  as  also  I  am  known"? 
"Now  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  then  face 
to  face  ?  "  I  cannot  conceive  of  it  so.  I  believe  I  shall 
clasp  my  mother's  hand  there  again.  I  believe  you 
will  know  at  once  and  love  the  little  darling  you 
gave  up  to  God,  that  you  will  be  again  by  the  side 
of  your  Christian  husband  to  be  parted  no  more, 
that  your  sainted  wife  is  waiting  for  you  on  the  other 
side,  and  that  pastors  will  meet  their  dear  flocks  there 
and  rejoice  with  them.  Yes,  I  believe  we  shall  all 
know  each  other  there,  and  shall  look  into  each 
other's  faces  and  see  the  joy  beaming  there,  and  shall 
all  break  forth  into  glad  eternal  hallelujahs.  And 
now  what  practical  lessons  may  we  find  here:  First. 
This  hope  should  make  our  earthly  lives  holier  and 
better.  Friends  are  waiting  for  us  in  heaven  ;  such 
a  thought  should  lift  us  above  the  beggarly  elements 
of  the  world,  it  should  restrain  us  from  sin.  The 
benediction  such  a  hope  kindles  in  our  breasts  should 
give  us  a  strong  desire  for  holy  things  and  an  impulse  to 
better  living.  Second.  This  truth  should  make  us  true 
and  tender  friends  to  each  other  in  this  life.  Immor- 
tal affections  should  surely  be  sacred.  If  you  thought 
you  should  never  know  or  love  the  friends  of  earth, 
you  would  number  them  \iith  temporal  things  and 
it  would  cramp  and  chill  all  earthly  affections.  But 
how  deeply,  how  tenderly,  we  may  love  each  other 
3 


34 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


here  when  we  know  the  separations  of  life  are  but 
brief,  and  heaven  shall  view  their  renewal  in  an 
unending  union.  How  gentle  our  words,  how  patient 
and  forbearing  shall  our  lives  be,  holding  our  friends 
in  such  light  as  this.  Third.  This  truth  appeals  to  the 
unconverted.  They  have  sainted  friends  in  heaven 
they  want  to  meet,  perhaps  have  promised  to  meet 
as  they  bade  them  farewell  here,  and  yet  they  can- 
not meet  them  unless  they  turn  from  their  sins  unto 
God. 


THE  DUTY  OF  FORGIVENESS. 
By  Rev.  Marquis  L.  Wood,  D.  D., 

Of  the  North  Carolina  Conference,  (M.  E.  C,  S.) 
Am  I  in  the  place  of  God  ?   Genesis  1 : 19. 

After  the  death  of  their  father  Jacob,  the  brothers  of 
Joseph  thought  that  he  would  certainly  requite  them 
for  the  great  wrong  the}7  had  done  him  forty  years 
before  by  selling  him  into  slavery.  They  sent  to  him 
a  messenger  to  remind  him  of  his  father's  command 
to  him  to  forgive  his  brothers  their  sin.  They  came 
and  threw  themselves  at  his  feet,  confessing  the  evil 
they  did  him,  and  offering  to  become  his  servants 
for  life  if  he  would  forgive  them  Joseph  wept  when 
they  begged  him  for  their  lives,  and  said  to  them, 
"  Fear  not,  for  am  I  in  the  place  of  God?" 

The  doctrine  of  the  text  is,  vengeance  belongs  to 
God,  and,  consequently,  it  is  man's  duty  to  forgive. 


The  Duty  of  Forgiveness.  35 

And  perhaps  there  is  no  duty  more  important,  and 
often  more  perplexing,  than  the  duty  of  forgiveness. 
Hence  it  should  be  well  understood.  Our  Saviour 
says, "  It  is  impossible  but  that  offences  will  come." 
It  is  impossible  but  that  the  interests  of  finite 
and  sinful  beings  will  sometimes  conflict  and  occa- 
sion offences.  And  when  the  offences  come,  every 
sincere  and  honest  person  is  anxious  to  know  what 
to  do.  All  such  want  to  do  right.  Let  us,  then,  try 
and  bring  to  the  study  of  this  important  subject  the 
spirit  of  Christ ;  and  may  the  Holy  Spirit  help  us  to 
rightly  understand  it. 

The  duty  of  forgiveness  has  two  distinct  phases, 
which  we  will  consider  separately:  1.  Subjectively, 
as  regards  the  offended  person  irrespective  of  the  one 
giving  the  offence ;  2.  Objectively,  as  regards  what 
is  necessary  on  the  part  of  both  offended  and  offender 
to  bring  about  a  reconciliation. 

We  will  take  these  up  in  the  order  stated,  and  con- 
sider them  in  the  light  of  the  teachings  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

I.  Subjectively,  as  regards  the  offended  person  irrespective 
of  the  one  giving  the  offence,  or  doing  the  wrong. 

This,  as  is  readily  seen,  has  reference  to  the  per- 
son who  has  been  offended  or  wronged,  regardless 
of  the  conduct  of  the  person  giving  the  offence 
or  doing  the  wrong,  regardless  of  his  motive  or  of 
his  animus.  Sometimes  it  may  not  be  possible 
to  know  at  oace  the  mind  of  the  offending  party. 
Then  what  is  right,  what  is  his  duty,  for  the  person 
who  is  improperly  treated?    Let  us  not  forget  that 


36 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


we  are  not  asking  for  human  opinions,  or  human 
codes.  We  are  studying  this  subject  in  the  light  of 
the  teachings  and  life  of  Christ.  He  is  the  truth.  God 
says,  "Hear  ye  him."  He  is  the  only  one  who  can 
speak  authoritatively  upon  matters  of  Christain 
ethics.  We  are  not  inquiring  what  men,  worldly 
men,  think  and  say  upon  this  subject. 

The  Holy  Spirit  says,  through  Paul,  Rom.  xii :  19, 
"Avenge  not  yourselves,  beloved,  but  give  place  unto 
wrath  (the  wrath  of  God) :  for  it  is  written,  vengeance 
belongethunto  me;  I  will  recompense,  saith  the  Lord." 
(R.  V.)  Then  vengeance  does  not  belong  to  man. 
Man  has  no  right  to  use  it,  or  to  exercise  it.  God 
holds  that  in  his  own  hands.  Hence  it  is  unmis- 
takably man's  duty  to  refrain  from  vengeance,  and 
under  provocation  he  must  divest  his  mind  and  his 
heart  of  all  vindictive  purposes  and  feelings.  Our 
Saviour  says,  "  When  ye  stand  praying,  forgive,  if  ye 
have  aught  against  anyone."  There  is  no  condition 
mentioned  in  this  statement.  None  was  intended. 
When  ye  pray,  forgive,  if  ye  have  aught  against  any 
one,  There  is  no  mistaking  this  language.  And  no 
amount  of  questioning  or  quibbling  can  weaken  its 
force.  It  is  an  absolute  requirement,  an  absolute 
duty.  Our  own  forgiveness  depends  upon  our  for- 
giving, and  that,  too,  in  the  manner  here  specified. 
"And  whensoever  ye  stand  praying,  forgive,  if  ye 
have  aught  against  any  one;  that  your  Father  also 
which  is  in  heaven  may  forgive  you  your  trespasses." 
Then  the  salvation  of  our  souls  depends  upon  our 
forgiving  those  who  trespass  against  us.  Our  Saviour 


The  Duty  of  Forgiveness.  37 


has  given  us  a  model  prayer.  "After  this  manner 
therefore  pray  ye:  Oar  Father  which  art  in  heaven." 
In  that  prayer  He  put  this  petition,  "  Forgive  us  our 
debts,  as  we  forgive  our  debtors,"  or,  as  it  is  frequently 
rendered,  "Forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive 
those  who  trespass  against  us."  Forgive  us  as  we 
forgive.  Let  us  analyze  this  petition.  Suppose  a 
man  who  has  been  offended,  or  imagines  he  has  been 
offended,  and  does  not  from  his  heart  forgive,  but 
cherishes  vindictive  feelings  and  purposes,  goes  to 
God  and  prays  this  prayer.  What  does  it  mean? 
For  what  does  he  pray?  He  asks  God  to  forgive  as 
he  forgives,  and  at  the  same  time  he  is  cherishing 
vindictive  feelings !  Then  he  is  asking  God  to  visit 
vengeance  upon  his  soul!  Terrible!  "For  if  ye 
forgive  men  their  trespasses,  your  heavenly  Father 
will  also  forgive  you :  but  if  ye  forgive  not  men  their 
trespasses,  neither  will  your  Father  forgive  your  tres- 
passes." 

I  read  of  a  knight  who  had  determined  to  go  on 
an  expedition  of  revenge  and  communicated  the 
fact  to  his  chaplain,  who  tried  to  dissuade  him  from 
going.  He  would  not  listen  to  his  chaplain.  "  Well," 
said  the  chaplain,  "  let  us  pray  first."  They  knelt 
together,  and  the  man  of  God  said  to  the  knight, 
"repeat  after  me."  They  commenced,  "  Our  Father 
who  art  in  heaven  ;  "  but  when  they  came  to  the  peti- 
tion, "  Forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  those 
who  trespass  against  us,"  the  knight  stopped.  His 
chaplain  wanted  to  know  what  he  meant.  The 
knight  replied,  "  I  cannot  pray  that  prayer.  What ! 
I  ask  God  to  forgive  me  as  I  forgive,  and  I  am  going 


38 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


on  an  expedition  of  revenge!  I  can't  pray  such  a 
prayer  as  that.  I  dare  not."  The  man  of  God  told 
him  he  must  pray  it,  and  urged  him  till  he  did ;  but 
when  he  rose  from  his  knees  he  could  not  go  on  his 
vindictive  expedition.  No  man  can  truly  pray  "  the 
Lord's  prayer"  and  cherish  revengeful  feelings  against 
anyone. 

"  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  an  eye  for 
an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth:  but  I  say  unto  you, 
that  ye  resist  not  evil."  What  does  our  Saviour 
mean  by  this  statement?  "An  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a 
tooth  for  a  tooth,"  is  found  in  the  Mosaic  law.  Did 
Jesus  mean  to  annul  and  set  it  aside?  By  no  means. 
He  did  not  come  "  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  proph- 
ets." That  was  a  part  of  the  civil  code,  but  the  peo- 
ple had,  by  their  teachings  and  practice,  taken  that 
law  into  their  own  hands,  and  all  that  Jesus  intended 
was  to  restore  it  to  its  proper  place  in  the  civil  pro- 
cedure. He  taught?  that  all  must  be  true  to  the  laws  of 
the  land,  and  see  that  they  are  executed.  "  Ye  have 
heard  that  it  hath  been  said!"  How  much  wrong 
interpretation  there  is  of  the  plain  teachings  of  the 
holy  scriptures  under  the  plea  of  having  heard  some- 
body say  something  different.  How  solemn  and 
authoritative  the  words  of  the^ great  Teacher:  "But 
I  say  unto  you:  that  ye  resist  not  evil:  but  whoso- 
ever shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to 
him  the  other  also."  Dr.  R.  W.  Dale  says:  "If  this 
were  meant  to  be  taken  literally,  it  would  impose  an 
extremely  light  duty.  For  in  decent  civilized 
society  men  very  seldom  smite  us  on  the  right  cheek 
or  the  left,  so  that  the  duty  of  turning  the  other 


The  Duty  of  Forgiveness.  39 

would  not  come  often ;  and  if  one  happened  to  smite 
us  on  one  cheek,  to  turn  the  other  as  an  act  of  obe- 
dience to  Christ  would  require  very  little  effort.  But 
never  to  feel  personal  resentment  against  those  who 
recklessly  misrepresent  us,  who  slander  us,  who  in- 
sult us;  and  even  when  duty  requires  us  to  take 
measures  to  resist  or  redress  an  injury,  to  be  as  free 
from  the  spirit  of  revenge  as  a  judge  on  the  bench 
when  he  sentences  a  thief  to  be  imprisoned,  or  a 
murderer  to  be  hung;  to  be  righteously  indignant 
at  wrong-doing,  but  not  to  suffer  the  sense  of  the 
wrong  done  to  ourselves  to  exaggerate  the  guilt  of  the 
wTrong-doer,  or  to  make  us  desire  for  our  personal 
satisfaction  that  he  should  suffer  for  his  offence — this 
is  a  much  more  difficult  matter,  and  this  is  what 
Christ  requires." 

"The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long- 
suffering,"  and  we  dare  not  substitute  as  a  code  of 
ethics  human  prejudices  and  human  notions,  or  the 
spirit  of  unsanctified  human  nature,  for  the  Divine 
teachings. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  second  phase  of  our  subject, 
namely : 

Objectively,  as  regards  ivhat  is  necessary  on  the  part  of 
both  offended  and  offender  to  effect  a  reconciliation. 

This  is  conditioned,  and  the  conditions  are  very 
clearly  stated  by  our  Saviour:  "Take  heed  to  your- 
selves :  If  thy  brother  trespass  against  thee,  rebuke 
him,  and  if  he  repent  forgive  him."  He  specifies 
something  for  both  parties  to  do.  Neither  has  the 
right  to  brood  over  it,  or  to  talk  about  it  to  others. 


40 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


"Rebuke  him."  How?  "If  thy  brother  shall 
trespass  against  thee,  go  and  tell  his  fault  between 
thee  and  him  alone."  Go  at  once.  Go  alone.  Go 
in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  in  the  spirit  of  conciliation. 
Don't  talk  about  it  to  others.  That  will  simply  make 
the  matter  worse.  "  If  he  shall  hear  thee,  thou  hast 
gained  thy  brother."  But  suppose  he  will  not  hear, 
then  what?  "  Take  with  thee  one  or  two  more,"  and 
talk  the  matter  over  in  their  presence,  "  that  in  the 
mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses  every  word  may  be 
established."  Such  a  course  will  show  an  honest 
desire  to  settle  the  difficulty  and  keep  it  from 
troubling  the  communit}^.  "  And  if  he  shall  neg- 
lect to  hear  them  " — will  not  be  persuaded  by  them  to 
make  the  proper  acknowledgments — "  tell  it  to  the 
church."  But  do  not  trouble  the  church  with  it  till 
the  above  directions  have  been  tried.  "  But  if  he 
neglect  to  hear  the  church,  let  him  be  unto  thee  as 
an  heathen  man  and  a  publican."  He  has  shown  by 
his  unrelenting  that  his  act  was  premeditated  and  of 
evil  intent,  and  is  now  not  fit  to  associate  with  the 
noble  and  the  good. 

"  And  if  he  repent,  forgive  him."  Repentance, 
then,  is  the  condition  upon  which  the  offended  must 
forgive  and  be  reconciled.  The  offender  has  been 
properly  approached,  his  wrong  kindly  pointed  out, 
and  he  is  ready  to  make  the  amende  honorable.  That 
is  all  that  can  be  asked.  "  If  he  repent,"  "  Godly  sor- 
row worketh  repentance  to  salvation  not  to  he 
repented  of."  "Sorrow,"  grief  because  a  wrong  has 
been  done,  regrets  the  wrong,  would  recall  it,  undo 


The  Duty  of  Forgiveness.  41 


it  if  possible.  "  Godly  sorrow  worketh."  Works  to 
repair  the  wrong  done,  and  to  get  right  again. 
Works  to  salvation ;  works  out  of  the  difficult}' ; 
works  to  effect  a  reconciliation.  No  one  is  really 
sorry  unless  the  sorrow  moves  to  action;  and  the 
movement  will  be  on  the  line  of  reparation  and 
reconciliation.  So  we  see  that  genuine  repentance 
carries  with  it  the  doctrine  and  the  duty  of  restitution. 
He  that  truly  repents,  works ;  works  to  put  himself 
right  with  God,  and  right  with  his  brother;  works  to 
repair  the  injury  done  to  society  and  to  the  cause  of 
Christ.  If  the  trespass  has  been  a  fraud,  he  can 
restore  that  which  has  been  obtained  by  the  fraud  ; 
if  it  has  been  a  slander,  a  defamation  of  character,  he 
can  correct  that ;  if  it  has  been  a  libel  he  can  publish 
a  retraction.  In  a  word,  he  will  do  everything  in  his 
power  to  repair  the  wrong  that  has  been  done. 
Where  there  is  no  restitution  there  is  no  repentance, 
no  sorrow  for  the  trespass,  no  sorrow  for  the  sin  An 
old  Chinese  woman  embraced  Christianity  while  I 
was  in  China  and  joined  the  church.  She  then  went 
to  her  children,  her  grandchildren,  her  neighbors, 
and  told  them  that  she  had  taught  them  wrong;  that 
she  had  found  "  the  true  doctrine,"  and  she  wanted 
now  to  undo  the  wrong  that  she  had  done  and  lead 
them  in  the  right  way.  She  repented  and  brought 
forth  fruits  corresponding  thereto.  Zaccheus  said, 
"  Behold,  Lord,  the  half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  feed 
the  poor  ;  and  if  I  have  taken  anything  from  any  man 
by  false  accusation,  I  restore  him  fourfold.  And 
Jesus  said  unto  him,  This  day  is  salvation  come  to 
this  house." 


42  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


"  And  if  he  repent,  forgive  him."  If  he  repent,  this 
is  the  condition  upon  which  God  forgives  ;  and  He 
requires  the  same  between  man  and  man.  Forgive 
him,  11  For  if  ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses,  your 
Heavenly  Father  will  also  forgive  you  ;  but  if  ye  for- 
give not  men  their  trespasses,  neither  will  your 
Father  forgive  your  trespasses."  So  our  own  per- 
sonal salvation  depends  upon  our  forgiving  one 
another.  "  Put  on,  therefore,  as  God's  elect,  holy  and 
beloved,  a  heart  of  compassion,  kindness,  humility, 
meekness,  long-suffering,  forbearing  one  another, 
and  forgiving  each  other;  if  any  man  have  a  com- 
plaint against  any,  even  as  Christ  forgave  you,  so 
also  do  ye."  Even  as  God  forgives.  He  says,  "  For 
I  will  forgive  their  iniquity,  and  I  will  remember 
their  sin  no  more."    Forgives  and  forgets. 

The  necessity  and  the  nature  of  forgiveness  are 
illustrated  by  the  parable  of  the  unmerciful  servant. 
"  Therefore  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  likened  unto 
a  certain  king,  which  would  take  account  of  his  serv- 
ants." One  was  brought  that  owed  him  ten  thousand 
talents.  He  had  nothing  with  which  to  pay.  "  His 
lord  commanded  him  to  be  sold,  and  his  wife,  and 
his  children,  and  all  that  he  had,  and  payment  to  be 
made."  The  servant  begged  for  time,  and  he  would  • 
pay  all.  Then  his  lord  had  compassion  on  him,  and 
forgave  him  the  debt.  That  servant  went  out  and 
found  a  fellow-servant  that  owed  .him  an  hundred 
pence.  He  seized  him  by  the  throat,  saying  as  he- 
did  so,  "  Pay  me  that  thou  owest."  He  also  begged 
for  time,  and  would  pay  all  he  owed  him.    But  no;. 


The  Duty  of  Forgiveness. 


43 


his  fellow-servant  put  him  in  prison  "  till  he  should 
pay  the  debt."  Now  his  lord  had  the  hard  hearted 
servant  called,  and  said  to  him,  "0,  thou  wicked 
servant,  I  forgave  thee  all  that  debt,  because  thou 
desiredest  me,  shouldst  not  thou  also  have  had  com- 
passion on  thy  fellow-servant,  even  as  I  had  pity  on 
thee?"  Did  not  justice,  to  say  nothing  of  mercy, 
require  that  he  should  ?  So  "his lord  delivered  him 
to  the  tormentors  till  he  should  pay  all  that  was  due 
him."  So  we  see  that  the  forgiven  debt  comes  back, 
simply  because  that  servant  would  not  forgive  his 
fellow-servant.  Now  let  us  see  the  application  that 
Jesus  makes  of*  this:  "  So  likewise  shall  my  heavenly 
Father  do  also  unto  you  if  ye  from  your  hearts  for- 
give not  every  one  his  brother  their  trespasses." 
Language  cannot  be  plainer.  There  can  be  no  mis- 
taking it.  Our  Lord  says  positively  that  there  is  no 
forgiveness  on  the  part  of  our  heavenly  Father  unless 
we  forgive  also.  And  if  there  is  no  forgiveness,  there 
is  no  salvation.  So  that  it  is  a  most  fearful  thing  to 
cherish  animosity,  ill  will,  an  unforgiving  spirit. 

Forgiveness  is  beautifully  and  forcibly  exempli- 
fied in  the  life  of  Joseph.  His  brothers  hated  him, 
envied  him,  conspired  to  take  his  life  ;  cast  him  into 
an  empty  pit  to  perish,  but  afterwards  took  him  out 
and  sold  him  into  slavery.  Years  after,  through  a 
most  wonderful  providence,  they  are  before  him,  but 
they  knew  him  not.  He  was  governor  over  Egypt, 
and  had  it  in  his  power  to  have  retaliated,  and  no 
one  would  have  called  him  to  an  account  for  it.  But 
no.    lie  manages  to  have  Benjamin  brought  to  him. 


44  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


Then  makes  himself  known  to  them.  Sends  for  his 
father,  and  provides  for  them  all.  After  Jacob's 
death,  and  seeing  that  the  authority  of  their  father 
was  gone,  his  brothers  thought  that  Joseph  would 
get  satisfaction.  They  surrender  themselves  up  to 
him,  expecting  death  or  slavery.  Joseph  replies, 
"Am  I  in  the  place  of  God?"  As  if  he  had  said, 
"Do  you  suppose  I  am  so  wicked,  so  base,  so  mean, 
as  to  try  to  invade  the  prerogatives  of  God?  Ven- 
geance belongs  to  Him,  not  to  me."  The  meaning 
of  his  words  in  the  text  is,  "I  forgive  you  all  the 
evil  you  thought  to  do  me."  He  forgave  them  fully 
from  his  heart.  "  And  he  comforted  them,  and  spake 
kindly  unto  them," — spake  to  their  hearts.  Noble 
man!  It  is  true  dignity  to  forgive.  It  is  ennobling. 
It  is  Godlike.  It  makes  a  man  like  God.  It  is  the 
glory  of  God  to  forgive. 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  SAFETY. 

By  Shockley  D.  Adams, 
Presiding  Elder  of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  (M.  E.  C,  S). 

"Watch  and  pray  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation."— Matthew 
xxvi:  41. 

I  do  not  think  we  can  fully  understand,  or  prop- 
erly appreciate,  this  language  of  our  Lord  unless  we 
regard  it  as  a  note  of  warning,  sounding  the  alarm, 
telling  of  approaching  danger,  and  putting  us  on 
our  guard,  that  we  may  be  fortified  in  the  day  of 
attack.    And  this  warning  comes  from  GethsAnane; 


The  Christian's  Safety.  45 


it  sounds  out  from  the  depths  of  the  agony  in  the 
garden.  It  first  fell  on  the  ears  of  the  sleepy  disci- 
ples, and  the  echo  has  ever  since  been  falling  on  the 
ear  of  a  drowsy  church.  It  was  spoken  not  only  to 
the  disciples,  but  to  the  "elect  among  the  elect" — the 
three  chosen  to  be  with  the  Lord  and  witness  a  scene 
not  surpassed  in  the  annals  of  His  suffering.  It  is 
intended  at  once,  and  for  all  time,  to  put  believers 
on  their  guard;  it  indicates  danger  imminent  and 
threatening,  and  to  avoid  it  there  must  be  prudent 
forethought,  much  watchfulness  and  prayer. 

The  first  lesson  we  learn  from  the  text  is  this:  The 
pardon  of  past  sins  will  not  avail  unless  we  are  preserved 
from  sin  in  the  future. 

Sin  depresses  and  degrades;  pardon  elevates  and 
gives  au  honorable  relation  to  the  law  and  its  author ; 
but  elevation  and  honor  do  not  remove  our  weak- 
ness, or  so  change  our  constitutional  nature  as  to 
leave  us  without  any  affinity  for  sin,  or  any  inclina- 
tion to  wrong-doing.  With  pardon  for  past  sins  we 
may  quietly  sleep  in  the  very  arms  of  danger  and 
of  death. 

Our  only  safety  after  pardon  is  in  being  preserved 
from  temptation  and  sin  ;  and  to  be  thus  preserved, 
our  Lord  says  we  must  not  be  drowsy  and  indifferent, 
but  appreciating  our  danger  we  should  "  watch  and 
pray." 

The  text  presents  the  danger  against  which  we  are 
to  guard — Temptation. 

The  word  tempt,  or  temptation,  has  two  distinct 
meanfngs  in  the  Bible.  It  is  sometimes  used  in  that 
sense  which  signifies  to  test,  to  try,  to  prove. 


46  North  Carolina  Sermons. 

It  is  used  in  this  sense  when  it  is  said:  "And  it 
came  to  pass  after  these  things  that  God  did  tempt 
Abraham,  and  said  unto  him,  Abraham ;  and  he 
said,  behold,  here  I  am.  And  he  said  take  now  thy 
son,  thine  only  son  Isaac,  whom  thou  lovest,  and  get 
thee  into  the  land  of  Moriah;  and  offer  him  there 
for  a  burnt  offering  upon  one  of  the  mountains  which 
I  will  tell  thee  of."  Here  God  did  tempt  Abraham, 
not  to  know  his  temper  or  disposition,  but  to  furnish 
an  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  the  Christian 
graces,  his  faith  in  God,  his  love  for  Him,  the  extent 
to  which  his  obedience  would  go;  and  placed  him 
where  it  became  his  privilege  to  build  a  monument 
to  his  memory  more  enduring  than  any  ever  erected 
to  human  greatness.  And  in  this,  the  severest  of  all 
trials,  God  put  great  honor  on  him,  so  that  he  stands 
before  the  world  to-day  as  the  acknowledged  "  friend 
of  God." 

But  it  has  another,  and,  to  us,  a  very  important 
meaning.  That  is,  to  incite  or  entice  to  the  commis- 
sion of  evil. 

In  this  sense  it  is  an  inducement  to  evil,  which 
becomes  the  occasion  of  sin.  It  is  a  solicitation 
which  operates  as  a  motive  or  consideration,  the  ten- 
dency of  which  is  to  inflame  the  passions,  prejudice 
the  mind,  or  in  some  way  superinduce  a  desire  to 
commit  an  unlawful  and  sinful  act.  It  is  used  in  this 
sense  when  it  is  said :  "  Let  no  man  say  when  he  is 
tempted,  I  am  tempted  of  God;  for  God  cannot  be 
tempted  with  evil,  neither  tempted  he  any  man; 
but  every  man  is  tempted,  when  he  is  drawn*  away 


The  Christian's  Safety. 


47 


of  his  own  lusts  and  enticed.  Then  when  lust  hath 
conceived  it  bringeth  forth  sin;  and  sin  when  it  is 
finished,  bringeth  forth  death."  In  this  sense  God 
does  not  tempt,  nor  can  He  be  tempted.  This  form 
of  temptation  comes  as  an  allurement  from  the  finite 
evil,  and  not  from  the  holy  infinite  God.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  temptation  is  not  to  develop  and  strengthen 
Christian  character,  but  to  lead  to  compliance  with 
its  demands.  To  produce  this  disastrous  result,  there 
must  be  within  us  something  that  answers  to  the  call 
from  without,  and  inward  affinity  for  an  outward 
ovil.  The  temptation  comes  breathing  a  soft,  luxu- 
rious air,  chimes  in  with  our  moral  nature,  appeals 
to  pride,  or  prejudice,  or  passion,  and  offers  such 
inducements  as  to  lead  to  submission. 

The  temptation  is  sometimes  sudden,  and  very  vio- 
lent. It  comes  in  an  unexpected  hour,  from  an  unex- 
pected source,  and  with  such  violence  as  may  well 
produce  alarm.  But  little  time  for  thought,  to  adjust 
the  feelings,  to  exercise  sound  judgment,  to  pray, 
to  get  ready  for  the  attack  ;  it  is  already  on,  with  all 
its  fearful  force,  and  must  be  resisted,  or  the  tempted 
must  stagger  and  fall.  Safety  in  such  a  conflict  calls 
for  great  prudence  and  care. 

Most  generally  the  temptation  is  seductive. 

The  tempter  approaches  slowly,  cautiously  and 
with  great  seductive  tact,  and,  covering  his  evil  pur- 
pose, he  gives  the  strongest  assurance  of  entire  safety, 
and  affirms  there  is  not,  nor  can  there  be,  the  least 
possible  danger  in  dallying  with  this  Delilah.  And 
selecting  the  temptation  from  things  the  most  beau- 


48 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


tiful  and  attractive  though  most  poisonous,  and  bap- 
tising it  with  a  christian  name,  he  proclaims  it  is 
the  very  embodiment  of  innocence,  the  life  of  enjoy- 
ment; and  says  that  it  is  actually  incorporated  in 
the  church  of  this  age  as  a  part  of  its  religion. 

And  there  are  so  many  church  members  who  are 
ready  to  listen  and  to  yield,  protesting  there  is  no  dan- 
ger until  harm's  work  is  done,  and  the  worst  results 
are  realized.  The  process  by  which  this  is  effected 
is  a  study.  Its  work  is  not  done  at  one  bound,  not 
always  in  an  hour,  or  a  day.  Time,  thought,  and 
skillful  management  are  necessary.  A  proper  sub- 
ject, the  place  and  surroundings  must  all  be  consid- 
ered. Here  is  about  the  process:  An  evil  thought 
entertained  soon  developes  into  strong  imagination, 
producing  a  pleasurable  sensation,  which  acts  on  the 
will  as.  a  motive  power,  gaining  its  consent;  and 
then  the  work  is  done. 

The  soul  that  once  soared  on  high  and  held  com- 
munion with  the  invisible  and  eternal,  now  with 
broken  wing  nutters  in  the  dust  unable  to  arise  and 
claim  kinship  with  the  skies.  Overcome  of  evil, 
how  has  the  mighty  fallen  !  But  here  is  another 
lesson  :  We  are  overcome,  not  by  the  power  of  tempta- 
tion to  force  the  will,  but  by  our  own  weakness  in  yield- 
ing. 

Our  danger  is  in  our  weakness;  that  is  the  point 
to  be  guarded.  We  are  not  to  destroy  the  enemy  ; 
that  is  not  our  work.  We  are  to  build  character,  and 
so  fortif}'  ourselves  that  we  may  stand  any  attack 
that  may  be  made.    If  we  have  truth  and  Christ  for 


The  Christian's  Safety. 


49 


us,  there  may  be  such  an  impartation  of  strength  as 
to  preserve  us  amid  any  onslaught  of  the  enemy. 
Martin  Luther  said:  "  Once  the  Devil  came  to  me 
and  said,  '  Martin  Luther,  you  are  a  great  sinner, 
and  will  be  damned.'  1  Stop,  stop,'  said  Luther,  'one 
thing  at  a  time.  I  am  a  great  sinner,  that  is  true, 
though  you  have  no  light  to  tell  me  of  it.  I  confess 
it.  What  next?— therefore  you  will  be  damned.  It 
is  true  I  am  a  great  sinner,  but  it  is  written  Jesus 
Christ  came  to  save  sinners,  therefore  I  shall  be 
saved.  So  I  cut  the  Devil  off  with  his  own  word, 
and  he  went  away  mouthing  because  he  could  not 
cast  me  down  by  calling  me  a  sinner.' " 

Luther  was  too  strong  for  the  Devil  in  that  con. 
test,  and  so  may  we  be  in  every  trial  of  our  strength  if 
we  live  in  Christ  and  draw  supplies  from  Him.  He 
that  is  for  us  is  greater  than  all  that  can  be  against 
us.    To  do  that,  we  must  watch  and  pray. 

These  are  the  means  to  be  used  for  our  protection 
and  safety.  Their  importance  is  clearly  indicated 
in  the  text.  They  are  closely  allied ;  inseparably 
connected.  Watchfulness  will  promote  prayer ; 
prayer  will  increase  watchfulness.  While  we  watch 
we  pray,  and  while  we  pray  we  watch.  Both  must 
be  utilized — woven  into  the  very  texture  of  our  spir- 
itual life. 

Watch.  Here  it  is  standing  in  the  front,  calling 
loudly,  and  wooing  us  on.  To  watch  is  to  give  atten- 
tion, to  be  vigilant,  to  guard  with  care.  Watch  and 
wake  are  different  forms  of  the  same  word,  they  carry 
the  same  root  idea;  they  look  to  the  same  end.  To 
4 


50 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


watch,  then,  we  must  be  awake,  wide  awake  and  so 
continue,  and  not,  like  the  chosen  disciples,  sleep 
in  the  garden  and  in  sight  of  the  cross.  But  it 
means  more  than  that:  It  means  that  all  our  wake- 
ful powers  should  be  in  full  exercise,  guarding 
against  the  approach  of  evil — anything  that  may 
lead  to  temptation.  We  must  be  so  wide  awake  to 
our  interest  and  safety  as  to  see  approaching  danger 
in  the  distance,  and  keep  out  of  its  way. 

"Argus"  is  fabled  to  have  "had  a  hundred  eyes, 
only  two  of  which  slept  at  once.  But  when  Mercury 
came  and  played  the  Pandean  pipes,  and  made  music 
of  a  new  and  touching  kind,  and  told  enchanting 
tales  until  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  he  saw  the  hun- 
dred eyes  all  closed  at  once,  and  the  head  leaning  on 
his  breast.  Then  Mercury  drew  his  sword  and  at  one 
blow  severed  the  head  from  the  body,  and  it  went 
tumbling  down  the  cliffs  beneath.  The  hundred 
eyes  were  nothing  worth  when  they  were  not  used 
for  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  given." 

Argus  slept  and  lost  his  head,  and  with  it  all  was 
gone.  It  is  not  so  much  the  powers  we  may  possess 
as  those  wisely  used  that  saves  from  defeat  and  fail- 
ure. Watchfulness  is  a  power  for  good.  It  puts  us 
on  our  guard,  shows  us  approaching  danger,  places 
us  in  a  position  for  defence,  but  does  not  give  the 
strength  necessary  to  our  safety.  Nor  is  that  strength 
ours— within  us.  It  is  foreign,  divine,  God-given, 
and  is  received  for  the  asking  It  is  inseparably 
connected  with  prayer.  Hence  the  command  of  the 
Master,  "  Watch  and  pray." 


The  Christian's  Safety. 


51 


Pray.  Our  Lord's  condescending  proposition  is: 
"  Ask  and  ye  shall  receive."  "  Whatsoever  things  ye 
desire  when  ye  pray  believe  that  you  receive  them, 
and  ye  shall  have  them." 

A  believer's  watchfulness  must  be  like  the  senti- 
nel on  the  outer  post,  who  when  he  sees  the  enemy's 
forces  advancing  does  not  go  out  to  meet  them  sin- 
gle-handed and  alone,  but  reports  to  headquarters, 
that  the  commanding  general  being  advised  may 
direct  the  defence  and  rout  the  enemy.  So  the  Chris- 
tian watching  and  waiting,  when  he  sees  the  enemy 
approaching  goes  to  the  Lord  in  prayer,  and  He 
prepares  him  for  the  day  of  battle, 

An  essential  element  of  prayer  is  earnestness. 

The  soul  must  be  in  it,  every  sentence  must  be  an 
expression  of  want,  and  tell  its  tale  of  helplessness 
casting  itself  on  power;  of  infirmity  leaning  on 
strength,  and  of  misery  wooing  bliss. 

Hannah  Moore  said:  "  Prayer  is  the  application  of 
want  to  Him  who  only  can  relieve  it;  it  is  the  voice 
of  sin  to  Him  who  alone  can  pardon  it.  It  is  the 
urgency  of  poverty,  the  prostration  of  humanity,  the 
fervency  of  penitence,  the  confidence  of  trust.  It  is 
not  eloquence,  but  earnestness ;  not  a  definition  of 
helplessness,  but  the  feeling  of  it;  not  figures  of 
speech,  but  compunction  of  soul.  It  is  the  Lord  saVe 
us  or  we  perish  of  drowning  Peter;  the  voice  of 
faith  in  the  ear  of  mercy." 

But  in  the  text  our  Lord  teaches  secret  personal 
prayer. 

This  is  indicated  by  the  phraseology  of  the  text 


52 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


and  his  example  in  the  garden.  He  was  in  the  gar- 
den with  His  disciples  and  said  to  them,"  Sit  ye  here 
while  I  go  and  pray  yonder."  In  another  place, 
he  took  with  him  Peter  and  the  two  sons  of  Zebe- 
dee  and  said  unto  them,  "  My  soul  is  exceeding  sor- 
rowful, even  unto  death,  tarry  ye  here  and  watch 
with  me."  He  went  a  little  further — was  then  alone 
with  the  Father,  in  the  depths  of  his  agony,  keenly 
pierced,  almost  exhausted,  and  in  secret  he  prayed, 
"  0,  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass 
from  me,  nevertheless,  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou 
wilt."  Secret  prayer  is  the  life  of  the  soul,  and  he 
who  prays  much  lives  much  with  God,  loves  much, 
endures  much,  enjoys  much  and  has  great  peace. 
"  And  when  thou  pray  est,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and 
when  thou  hast  shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father 
which  is  in  secret,  and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in 
secret  shall  reward  thee  openly." 

For  success  in  prayer,  preparation  is  necessary. 

A  proper  place.  "  Enter  into  thy  closet "  Yes, 
that  is  the  place,  "  thy  closet."  Everyone  should 
have  a  closet  for  secret  prayer.  Enter  into  the  quiet 
private  place,  where  Christ  meets  the  devout  soul 
and  gives  the  overflowing  fullness.  Have  you  a  closet, 
and  have  you  entered  into  it? 

It  is  thy  closet.  You  have  absolute  control  of  the 
place  now.  Let  me  emphasize,  "Thy  closet"  Yours 
and  yours  alone.  "Shut  thy  door."  Ah,  there  it  is 
again — "  Thy  door."  It  must  be  the  door  of  thy 
heart — shut  it;  shut  out  the  world,  its  business,  its 
distracting  cares,  its  multiplicity  of  annoyances  ;  shut 


Heavenly  Citizenship. 


53 


out  wife  and  child ren,  everybody  and  everything. 
No  intrusion  there.  That  is  a  sacred  place.  There 
you  go  to  meet  the  living  Christ.  Glorious  thought! 
Blood-bought  privilege — in  the  closet  with  the  world's 
Redeemer!  Pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in  secret; 
unbosom  thyself  now  ;  no  reserve — let  all  come,  the 
worst,  the  best,  all,  for  He  knows  all,  and  has  prom- 
ised to  supply  all  your  wants. 

There  is  safety ;  in  the  closet,  reaching  out  after 
Christ,  until  He  is  realized  in  His  personal  presence, 
and  the  soul  is  so  absorbed  in  Him  as  to  utilize  the 
wealth  of  His  resources  in  guarding  against  the 
power  of  temptation.  There  we  may  securely  rest 
forever. 


HEAVENLY  CITIZENSHIP. 
By  Rev.  W.  D.  Morton,  D.  D. , 
Pastor  of  the  Henderson  (N.  C.)  Presbyterian  Church. 

"  For  our  conversation  is  in  heaven."— PuiLirpiANS  iii:  20. 

"  The  heavenly  citizenship."  Though  dispersed 
among  the  nations  and  kingdoms  of  this  world, 
Christ  Jesus  has  a  peculiar  people.  By  His  Holy 
Spirit  He  has  called  them  out  from  the  world,  and 
begotten  in  their  souls  an  allegiance  to  Him  which 
rises  superior  to  every  other.  Jesus  rules  over  a  mul- 
titude of  willing  subjects,  who  fully  yield  Him  the 
love  and  devotion  of  their  grateful  hearts.  Christ 
has  erected  His  kingdom  upon  earth  ;  but  this  world 
of  sin  is  not  its  permanent  abode.    Its  subjects  are 


54 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


for  a  little  while  left  in  the  world,  yet  they  are  "  not 
of  the  world;"  and  in  His  Father's  house  of  many 
mansions,  the  Saviour  has  gone  to  prepare  for  His 
people  a  home  where  there  shall  be  no  more  sin  and 
"  no  more  curse."  The  redemption,  calling  and 
destiny  of  the  believer  are  the  highest  incentives  to 
holiness.  When,  therefore,  the  worldliness  and  rice  of 
certain  spurious  members  of  the  Philippian  church 
began  to  threaten  the  purity  and  life  of  the  flock, 
Paul  solemnly  warned  the  church  against  these  ene- 
mies of  the  Cross  of  Christ,  who,  gross,  godless  and 
sensual,  delighted  in  earthly  things.  In  contrast 
with  these  hypocrites,  Paul  declared,  of  the  body  of 
true  believers,  "  For  our  conversation  is  in  heaven." 
The  literal  meaning  of  the  word  rendered  "  conver- 
sation "  is  citizenship,  and  is  originally  significant  of 
the  privileges  and  protection  secured  to  the  citizens 
of  Rome  by  the  imperial  government.  Only  a 
favored  class  in  the  Roman  Empire  were  possessed 
of  these  rights  of  citizenship.  More  than  once  Paul 
had  realized  the  privileges  he  possessed  as  a  Roman 
citizen.  When  he  was  seized  by  the  frenzied  mob  of 
Jews  at  the  Temple  and  rudely  dragged  from  its  sacred 
precincts  a  cruel  scourging  awaited  him,  as  the 
captain  of  the  Roman  garrison  commanded  him  to 
be  examined  under  the  lash ;  but  even  as  the  execu- 
tioner prepared  the  knotted  ends  for  the  bloody  pun- 
ishment, the  Apostle  paralyzed  his  arm  by  the  ques- 
tion with  which  he  pressed  his  superior:  "  Is  it  law- 
ful for  you  to  scourge  a  man  that  is  a  Roman  and 
uncondemned?"  Actsxxii:25.  When  Paul  insisted 


Heavenly  Citizenship.  55 


upon  his  rank,  the  captain  replied,  "  With  a  great 
sum  obtained  I  this  freedom ; "  when  the  Apostle 
answered,  "  But  I  was  free  born."    Verse  28. 

Then  you  will  remember  how  a  discovery  of  Paul's 
rank  extorted  from  the  magistrates  at  Philippi  his 
release,  as  well  as  an  apology,  when  they  had  inflicted 
scourging  and  imprisonment  upon  him  and  Silas, 
ignorant  that  Paul  was  a  Roman  citizen.  When  the 
Apostle  wrote  these  words-  to  the  church  at  Philippi, 
we  may  well  suppose  that  memories  of  that  deliver- 
ance freshened  in  his  mind.  Paul  was  a  citizen  of 
Rome  when  the  Empire  was  in  its  pride.  The  iron 
grasp  of  its  hand  was  felt  alike  on  the  banks  of  the 
Euphrates  on  the  east,  and  the  Pillars  of  Hercules 
in  the  west,  and  within  a  radius  of  more  than  five 
hundred  leagues  from  her  capital  the  Eagles  of 
Rome  protected  her  citizens  in  their  rights.  But 
far  grander  and  more  powerful  is  the  kingdom  whose 
glories  filled  the  Apostle's  soul  when  he  wrote  those 
words.  He  then  thought  of  citizenship  in  the  great 
commonwealth  of  the  "  King  of  Kings";  of  an  in- 
heritance in  that  kingdom  where  the  Lord  God 
omnipotent  reigneth. 

1.  Then,  we  see,  Christ  Jesus  has  a  kingdom.  Before 
his  incarnation  Gabriel  revealed  it  to  Mary.  "  He 
shall  be  great,  and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the 
Highest,  and  the  Lord  shall  give  unto  him  the 
throne  of  his  father  David,  and  he  shall  reign  over 
the  house  of  Jacob  forever  and  of  his  kingdom  there 
shall  be  no  end."  Luke  i :  32,  33.  The  kingdom  of 
our  Lord  is  extensive  and  eternal ;  it  is  composed  of 


56 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


the  citizens  whom  his  Holy  Spirit  calls  out  of  the 
world,  and  their  names  are  all  registered  upon  the 
page  of  the  Lamb's  book  of  life.  Jesus  said  to  the 
seventy  disciples,  "Notwithstanding,  in  this  rejoice 
not  that  the  spirits  are  subject  unto  you,  but  rather 
rejoice  because  your  names  are  written  in  heaven." 
Luke  x  :.20.  This  divine  register  contains  the  names 
of  souls  of  all  ages  and  nations  who  have  washed 
their  robes  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  From  the 
faithful  young  Abel  who  first  passed  through  the 
deep  waters  into  the  eternal  joys  of  the  kingdom,  on 
down  the  ages  to  the  last  expectant  soul  who  as  I 
speak  has  accepted  Christ  as  his  King. 

2.  Bat  let  us  examine  the  privileges  and  mark  the 
obligations  of  this  heavenly  citizenship:  (1)  While 
the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  is  eternally  prepared  for 
the  blessed  objects  of  God's  grace,  the  first  comfort- 
ing effect  of  his  citizenship  revealed  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  believer  is  a  sense  of  God's  love  in 
the  pardon  of  sin.  This  is  a  privilege  to  the  heav- 
enly citizen  even  here  upon  earth  of  which  David 
spoke:  "Blessed  is  the  man  unto  whom  the  Lord 
imputeth  not  iniquity,  and  in  whose  spirit  there  is  no 
guile."  Ps.  xxxii :  1,  2.  In  its  natural  sinful  state 
the  human  heart  is  utterly  opposed  to  the  divine 
government  and  service.  The  carnal  mind  is  en- 
mity against  God.  The  impenitent  soul,  obstinate 
in  sin,  not  only  rejects  but  despises  the  claims  and 
privileges  of  Christ's  kingdom.  The  Holy  Spirit 
finds  the  guilty  soul  blindly  following  this  course  of 
ingratitude  and  rebellion.    He  convinces  the  sinner 


Heavenly  Citizenship. 


57 


of  the  guilt  of  his  rebellious  life  and  exhibits  the 
love  and  tenderness  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  is 
thus  led  to  repentance,  and  as  he  exercises  faith  in 
Christ  and  rests  upon  Him  for  pardon,  the  atoning 
work  of  Christ  is  reckoned  to  him  as  a  complete  sat- 
isfaction for  the  claims  of  divine  justice,  and  his  sins 
are  covered  up — remembered  against  him  no  more 
forever.  "He  will  turn  again,  He  will  have  compas- 
sion upon  us,  He  will  subdue  our  iniquities,  and 
thou  wilt  cast  all  their  sins  in  the  depths  of  the  sea." 
Micah  vii :  19.  (2)  Beyond  this,  the  citizens  of  Christ's 
kingdom  are  cleansed  from  the  pollution  and  deliv- 
ered from  the  power  of  sin.  Mere  pardon  does  not 
remove  moral  depravity.  Pardon  relates  to  the  guilt 
of  the  sinner  as  meriting  punishment,  but  cannot 
remove  moral  pollution.  Pardon  relieves  the  offender 
from  fear  of  punishment,  but  does  not  remove  the 
stains  and  pollution  of  his  soul;  and  did  the  work  of 
redemption  go  no  further,  an  insuperable  difficulty 
in  the  way  of  the  sinner's  peace,  purity  and  happi- 
ness would  still  remain.  But  the  believer  is  not  only 
justified,  he  is  sanctified.  He  is  cleansed  from  the 
taint  of  sin.  In  His  sanctifying  power  the  Holy 
Spirit  continues  His  work  in  the  heart  of  the  be- 
liever, and  "  he  is  enabled  more  and  more  to  die  unto 
sin  and  live  unto  righteousness."  When  called  into 
the  tearless  land  of  eternal  peace,  this  work  is  com- 
plete. Then  when  the  citizens  of  Christ's  kingdom 
are  ushered  into  the  presence  of  the  King,  they  will 
not  go  cowering  and  blushing  as  a  band  of  timorous 
pardoned  criminals;  they  will  not  only  be  justified, 


58 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


but  sanctified;  not  only  pardoned,  but  purified,  and 
stand  spotless  peers  of  the  purest  angel  to  join  in  the 
grateful  acclaim,  "Thanks  be  to  God  which  giveth 
us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  (3) 
But  the  disciples  of  Jesus  are  not  only  fellow-citizens 
and  saints  of  the  household  of  God,  but  they  are  God's 
children.  Christ  left  His  heavenly  home  not  only  to 
seek  out  and  win  back  that  which  was  lost,  but  to 
receive  them  into  his  family.  "The  Spirit  itself 
beareth  witness  with  our  spirit  that  we  are  the  chil- 
dren of  God,  and  if  children,  then  heirs;  heirs  of 
God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ."  Rom.  viii :  16,  17. 
"  Having  predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of  chil- 
dren by  Jesus  Christ  to  himself  according  to  the  good 
pleasure  of  his  will."  Eph.  i :  5.  "But  as  many  as 
received  him  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the 
sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believed  on  his  name." 
John  i :  1,  2.  The  names  of  Christ's  children  are  all 
very  familiar  and  very  dear  to  Him.  "Behold,  I 
have  graven  thee  upon  the  palms  of  my  hand,  thy 
walls  are  continually  before  me."  Isa.  xlix  :  16.  If 
the  citizens  of  a  powerful  nation  can  find  protection 
in  a  foreign  land  under  the  flag  of  their  country  or 
its  official  representative,  how  much  more  may  the 
Lord's  pilgrims  and  strangers  on  this  earth,  whose 
citizenship  is  in  heaven,  realize  their  security  and 
peace  under  the  sheltering  arm  of  their  omnipotent 
Father. 

3.  If  these,  then,  are  the  privileges  of  the  heavenly 
citizenship,  what  are  the  duties  thereby  involved  ? 
If  eternally  chosen  of  God,  if  redeemed  and  justified 
by  our  Lord,  if  adopted  into  His  family  and  sancti- 


Heavenly  Citizenship. 


59 


tied  by  His  Holy  Spirit,  what  high  and  sacred  obli- 
gations do  we  owe  our  Great  King  !  In  all  of  our 
words  and  actions  we  should  acknowledge  God  as 
our  Father.  If  children  of  the  kingdom  we  must 
confess  our  Lord.  Christ  passed  by  and  saw  us  in 
our  rags  and  wretchedness ;  He  has  adopted  us  into 
the  family  of  God,  and  this,  too,  at  the  cost  of  His 
own  precious  blood.  We  must,  then,  delight  to  avow7 
His  name  and  to  serve  Him  with  all  our  hearts. 
Then,  too,  if  in  God's  household,  and  in  truth  His 
children,  we  must  wear  the  colors  of  our  Lord.  We 
are  His  soldiers,  and  wre  must  not  parley  or  compro- 
mise with  God's  enemies.  "  Know  ye  not  that  the 
friendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God,  whoso- 
ever, therefore,  will  be  a  friend  of  the  world,  is  the 
enemy  of  God."  James  iv:  4.  Then,  if  children  of  the 
kingdom,  this  world  is  notour  home;  we  are  pilgrims 
and  strangers  upon  the  earth.  We  should,  in  every 
daily  duty,  and  in  our  transactions  with  men,  keep 
this  thought  before  us;  it  will  cheapen  the  value  of 
earthly  and  enhance  the  importance  of  heavenly 
things.  Let  us,  then,  use  this  world  as  not  abusing  it, 
knowing  that  the  fashion  of  this  wTorld  passeth  away. 
This  principle  should  dictate  our  tenure  and  use  of 
all  earthly  goods  with  which  God  has  entrusted  us. 
We  are  Christ's  stewards.  The  title  to  our  wrealth  is 
all  in  him.  The  riches  of  His  glorious  kingdom  are 
reserved  for  us.  Then,  instead  of  being  engrossed 
with  the  pleasures  and  absorbed  by  the  cares  of  this 
world,  let  us  bear  in  mind  that  they  are  the  uncer- 
tain temporalities  incidental  to  our  pilgrimage  from 
this  alien  world  to  our  heavenly  home.    How  much 


60 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


more  serene  the  lives  of  God's  children,  how  much 
less  painful  the  parking  from  this  world,  did  they 
ever  hold  it  at  its  true  cheap  rate!  It  may  be  like 
the  palace  coach  as,  garnished  with  bright  tinsel  and 
decorated  with  showy  paintings,  it  flashes  back  from 
its  glittering  mirrors  the  stranger  faces  that  wTalk  its 
passages ;  it  may  attract  with  spongy  carpets  and 
soft  cushions  as  it  smoothly  glides  over  its  track  of 
steel,  but,  Christian  brethren,  it  is  not  home!  When 
we  forget  the  emptiness  and  transient  character  of 
this  world,  when  we  cease  to  regard  it  as  a  taber- 
nacle and  esteem  it  as  our  home,  our  abiding  place, 
then  the  hopes  of  heaven  grow  dim  and  the  joys  of 
our  Father's  kingdom  become  faint.  Thoughts  such 
as  these  doubtless  dictated  the  reply  said  to  have 
been  made  by  Samuel  Johnson  to  David  Garrick, 
who,  having  followed  him  over  the  enchanting 
grounds  and  through  the  magnificent  halls  and 
stately  chambers  of  his  palatial  house,  said  to  the 
great  actor,  <:  Ah!  David,  these  are  the  things  that 
make  it  so  hard  for  a  man  to  die." 

Let  us,  then,  beware  of  forgetting  that  our  true 
abiding  p  ace  and  our  glorious  citizenship  is  not 
here.  Let  us  feel  that  this  place  is  but  a  place  of 
preparation  for  a  better ;  that  it  but  affords  the  time 
and  opportunities  God  grants  for  seeking  a  heavenly 
home.  Then  we  will  from  here,  as  a  temporary  place 
of  sojourn,  look  for  our  Saviour  from  sin  and  from 
death,  who  shall  "  change  our  vile  bodies  that  they 
may  be  fashioned  like  unto  His  glorious  body,  accord- 
ing to  the  working  whereby  He  is  able  even  to  sub- 
due all  things  unto  Himself." 


Stoning  Jesus. 


61 


STONING  JESUS. 

By  Rev.  Jonathan  Sanford,  D.  D., 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  (M.  E.  C,  &.). 

M  Many  good  works  have  I  shewed  you  from  my  Father;  for  which  of 
those  works  do  ye  stone  me?  "—John  x  :  32. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth  has  just  finished  one  of  his  most 
beautiful  sermons,  in  which  he  declares  and  illus- 
trates his  mission  on  earth  by  the  parable  of  the 
Good  Shepherd.  For  simplicity,  pathos,  and  adapta- 
tion to  his  audience,  it  has  no  rival  among  the  pic- 
torial discourses  to  instruct  the  people  in  the  way  of 
salvation.  The  inimitable  artist  is  at  his  best  and 
he  makes  a  supreme  effort  to  break  down  the  preju- 
dice of  the  Jews  and  win  them  to  his  cause.  They 
hated  him  without  a  cause,  refused  to  investigate  his 
claims,  and,  in  their  blindness,  ascribed  his  divine 
works  and  acts  to  the  inspiration  of  the  Devil.  We 
fail  to  see  anything  mysterious  or  offensive  in  the 
parable.  It  is  especially  adapted  to  their  wants. 
The  Good  Shepherd  was  no  new  thing  to  them.  They 
proudly  claimed  to  be  the  descendants  of  the  shep- 
herd kings  and  prophets ;  some  of  whom  they  rightly 
estimated  as  the  most  distinguished  and  best  of  men. 
Moses  and  David  were  faithful  shepherds,  who  led 
their  flocks  to  the  green  pastures  and  sparkling 
brooks  before  God  called  them  to  the  higher  and 
more  responsible  vocation  of  leading  men  to  the  river 
of  life.  The  royal  Psalmist  in  his  day  recognized  his 
subordinate  position,  and  with  his  prophetic  eye  on 


62 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


the  Chief  Shepherd  to  come,  set  redeeming  grace  to 
music,  when,  in  the  spirit  of  inspiration,  his  skillful 
fingers  touched  the  harp  strings  and  he  sang,  "The 
Lord  is  my  shepherd ;  I  shall  not  want."  David's 
Lord  was  in  their  presence  and  they  knew  Him  not. 
To  them  had  been  committed  the  prophecies  point- 
ing to  His  birth,  the  works  He  was  to  do  with  math- 
ematical precision,  but  when  He  presents  His  cre- 
dentials, and  invites  them  to  investigate  His  claims, 
they  refuse  to  believe  Him.  To  them  He  is  a  de- 
ceiver, a  disturbing,  dangerous  element  in  the  church, 
that  must  be  suppressed.  His  appeals  are  simple 
and  fair:  "If  I  do  not  the  works  of  my  Father, 
believe  me  not.  If  I  do,  believe  me  for  the  very 
works  sake."  "  Search  the  Scriptures  and  see,  they 
testify  of  me."  Compare  them  with  my  works — 
"The  blind  see,  the  deaf  hear,  the  lame  walk,  the 
dumb  speak,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  dead  are  raised 
up  and  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  to  them." 
These  works  bear  witness  that  I  am  the  Son  of  God. 
But  no  matter  what  he  did  or  said,  they  demanded 
additional  evidence.  "Show  us  a  sign,"  was  uttered 
in  the  presence  of  the  most  astonishing  miracles,  the 
reality  of  which  they  did  not  attempt  to  deny,  they 
could  not,  and  their  force  must  be  broken  by  other 
methods.  Just  now  they  are  outraged  because  Jesus 
opened  the  eyes  of  a  blind  man  on  the  Sabbath.  It 
is  a  difficult  case.  He  was  born  blind,  and  they  are 
confronted  by  the  stubborn  testimony  of  the  man 
himself  that  his  benefactor  whs  called  Jesus.  The 
miracle  has  made  a  profound  impression,  and  imme- 


Stoning  Jesus. 


63 


diate  action  is  necessary  or  many  will  believe  on 
Him.  The  parents  are  called,  who  cannot  but  affirm 
"He  is  our  son  and  was  born  blind.  This  we  know, 
we  know  that  his  eyes  have  been  opened,  by  whom 
or  by  what  means,  we  know  not.  He  is  of  age 
and  can  speak  for  himself."  When  the  man  is 
called,  the  case  becomes  more  difficult.  Neither  the 
Sabbath  question,  nor  the  fear  of  expulsion  from  the 
synagogue,  the  weapons  at  command,  were  suffi- 
ciently formidable  to  suppress  the  testimony  of  the 
grateful  man  whose  dead  eye-balls  had  felt  the  heal- 
ing touch  of  the  life-giving  fingers.  To  the  bitter 
falsehood,  "  We  know7  this  man  is  a  sinner,"  he 
answered  with  emphasis,  "  Whether  he  is  a  sinner 
or  no,  I  know  not;  but  one  thing  I  know,  that 
whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see."  This  increased 
their  enmity,  and  when  afterwards  they  fo-.md  him 
kneeling  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  in  the  very  act  of  wor- 
ship and  confession  of  faith  that  He  was  the  Son  of 
God,  they  were  enraged,  and  expressed  their  hatred 
by  casting  him  out  of  the  synagogue.  Jesus  ki  ew 
they  were  watching  Him  with  murderous  intentions, 
ready  to  stone  Him  to  death  if  He  committed  Him- 
self by  a  direct  answer  to  the  question,  "Art  Thou 
the  Son  of  God  ?"  His  love  knew  no  bounds.  He 
came  to  save  His  enemies,  and  impelled  by  His 
divine  solicitude  to  save,  He  makes  one  more  effort 
to  open  their  spiritual  eyes  to  see  their  fatal  mistake. 
In  the  most  solemn  manner  He  compares  Himself 
to  the  Good  Shepherd  ;  the  Jews  to  the  sheep;  and 
with  a  skill  that  no  human  artist  can  imitate.  The 


61 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


picture  of  the  true  and  faithful  shepherd,  his  duties, 
his  love  for  the  flock,  the  sacrifice  he  makes,  are  the 
subjects  from  which  the  heavenly  artist  draws  the 
series  which  compose  the  wonderful  panorama — 
the  sheep-fold,  the  flock,  the  shepherd  leading  them 
to  green  pastures  and  sparkling  brooks,  and  giving 
his  life,  if  necessary,  if  the  wrolf  comes  to  kill.  His 
comment  is  simple  and  touching.  "I  am  like  the 
good  shepherd,  and  lay  down  my  life  for  the  sheep." 

The  Result.  The  sermon,  so  full  of  love  and  earn- 
est solicitude  for  the  salvation  of  men,  ended  in  con- 
fusion with  a  division  of  sentiment. 

Many  said,  "  He  hath  a  devil  and  is  mad,"  others 
said,  "These  are  not  the  words  of  him  who  hath  a 
devil;"  while  someone,  impressed  by  the  miracle 
which  introduced  the  wonderful  discourse,  cried  out, 
"Can  a  devil  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind?"  This 
pertinent  question  the  enemies  of  Christ  and  Chris- 
tianity find  a  difficult  one  to  answer. 

Weary  and  disappointed,  Jesus  walked  in  the  Tem- 
ple in  Solomon's  porch,  where  he  was  soon  sur- 
rounded by  the  Jews. 

The  Crisis.  The  plot  is  growing  intensely  impres- 
sive, and  seemingly  the  Good  Shepherd  must  surren- 
der to  the  wTolves.  They  are  evidently  hungry  for 
blood.  They  attempt  to  appear  in  sheep's  clothing, 
but  cannot  hide  from  omniscience  the  angry  glitter 
of  the  wolf's  eye.  "  How  long  dost  thou  make  us  to 
doubt?"  "  If  thou  be  the  Christ,  tell  us  plainly,"  are 
the  false  words  with  which  they  hope  to  entangle 
Him.    He  knew  their  deep  and  wicked  meaning, 


Stoning  Jesus. 


65 


the  object  they  had  in  view;  but  with  a  few  words 
of  reproof  and  instruction  He  gave  them  what  they 
wanted  compressed  in  five  words,  "  I  and  Father 
are  ONE." 

This  is  plain  enough,  and  in  a  moment  the  wolves 
are  unmasked.  They  take  up  stones  to  stone  Him. 
For  what?  What  has  He  done  or  said  to  provoke 
them  to  madness  ?  Ye  astonished  and  insulted  heav- 
ens; and  thou,  0  earth,  if  thou  wilt,  answer,  what 
has  Jesus  done,  that  He  should  be  stoned  to  death  ? 
Who  is  mad  now?  As  we  watch  the  hypocrites  un- 
masked, the  eyes  flashing  with  rage,  the  nostrils  dis- 
tended, the  lips  compressed,  the  scowl  of  the  thunder- 
cloud on  their  brows,  the  mad  muscles  quivering  to 
begin  the  battle;  we  ask,  in  the  light  of  common 
sense,  as  well  as  in  the  presence  of  the  innocent  and 
unmoved  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  "  Who  is  it  that  hath  a 
devil?"  The  battle  is  on,  and  if  only  a  man, 
deceiver  or  deceived,  he  must  show  some  signs  of 
human  infirmity.  He  does  not.  He  is  neither  in- 
timidated or  revengeful.  He  shows  no  signs  of  weak- 
ness. Calm  and  immovable  as  the  everlasting  hills, 
which,  by  His  own  assertion, are  the  objective  expres- 
sions of  His  wisdom  and  creative  skill,  He  confronts 
the  mob  and  continues  to  give  them  the  words  of 
eternal  life. 

"  Many  good  works  have  I  shewed  you  from  my 
Father;  for  which  of  those  works  do  ye  stone  me?" 

Fall  into  Line.  Ye  despisers  and  haters  of  Christ 
and  of  his  church,  fall  into  line  and  let  us  begin  the 
crusade.  Bring  your  weapons  if  you  wish,  The 
5 


66  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


battle  is  on,  and  you  can  choose  your  own  methods 
in  rejecting  Jesus  and  the  offer  of  salvation.  Stones, 
fire  and  sword  can  still  be  secured  ;  or  if  too  cow- 
ardly or  indifferent  to  use  them,  you  can  join  the 
multitude  to  mock  and  bear  false  witness.  Any  way ; 
"  come  and  see."  Christ  and  Christianity  invites 
investigation.  His  works  were  not  done  in  a  corner, 
and  the  church  which  He  established  is  like  the  city 
on  the  hill  that  cannot  be  hidden. 

The  manner  in  which  men  in  all  ages  have  rejected 
Jesus  may  be  expressed  by  two  words,  hate  and  despise. 
The  words,  sometimes  used  interchangeably  by  care- 
less writers  and  speakers,  are  not  synonymous.  The 
first  means  to  dislike  greatly,  with  the  desire  more 
or  less  intense  to  injure  the  person.  It  seeks  to 
express  itself  in  abuse,  slander,  or  with  weapons  to 
hurt  or  kill.  The  attitude  of  the  Jews  to  Christ  is  a 
forcible  illustration.  They  hated  Him  with  murder- 
ous intentions,  and  dogged  his  footsteps  to  find  the 
semblance  of  an  excuse  to  injure  Him  or  put  Him 
to  death.  To  them  He  was  an  enemy  that  must  be 
hushed  or  removed.  In  their  blindness  they  saw 
nothing  good  in  Him.  After  heaping  all  manner  of 
indignities  on  His  person  and  character,  they  nailed 
Him  to  the  cross.  After  His  resurrection  and  ascen- 
sion, the  fires  of  hatred  burned  on,  and  were  trans- 
ferred to  His  disciples.  Saul  of  Tarsus  led  the  way, 
and  his  crusade  against  the  Christians,  before  his 
conversion,  forcibly  illustrates  the  deceitfulness  of 
sin,  and  is  recorded  as  an  imperishable  monu- 
ment to  warn  us  that  "  there  is  a  way  that  seemeth 


Stoning  Jesus. 


67 


right  unto  man;"  a  way  which,  if  pursued,  leads  to 
death.  He  never  forgave  himself,  and  was  honest 
enough  to  leave  the  melancholy  confession,  "  I  was 
exceeding  mad,  and  persecuted  the  church  unto 
death."  He  hated  the  Nazarine;  hated  his  disciples, 
and  directed  all  his  energies  to  strangle  the  church 
in  its  infancy.  After  his  conversion  he  suffered  in 
return.  The  same  spirit  that  impelled  him,  before 
the  scales  fell  from  his  eyes,  to  persecute  Jesus  in  His 
members,  followed  him  unto  death.  Because  he 
preached  Jesus  and  the  resurrection,  the  Jews  "  went 
about  to  kill  him."  Jesus  excepted,  he  was  the  most 
intensely  hated  man  in  the  world.  Bonds,  stripes, 
stones,  imprisonment,  awaited  him  until  his  tumul- 
tuous life  ended  on  the  block,  from  which  the  storm- 
beaten  hero,  bearing  the  scars  of  a  thousand  battles, 
took  his  departure  to  the  home  where  the  Christian 
soldier  rests  after  the  conflicts  are  past. 

The  spirit  of  persecution  is  not  dead.  The  foul 
and  blood-stained  demon  has  learned  to  change  his 
methods  and  weapons  of  warfare,  but  the  inevitable 
conflict  continues,  and  will  as  long  as  faithful  preach- 
ers do  their  duty,  and  men  and  women  reprove  the 
ungodly  by  living  pure  lives.  "Cain  hated  his' 
brother  because  his  own  deeds  were  evil,  and  his 
brother's  were  righteous."  Thousands  in  all  ages, 
inspired  by  the  same  wicked  spirit  and  for  the  same 
cause,,  have  befouled  the  earth  with  slander  and 
stained  it  with  blood  to  the  present  day.  Men  and 
women  are  still  hated  and  persecuted  for  righteous- 
ness sake.    Clubs,  stones  and  other  deadly  weapons 


68  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


are  out  of  date,  not  because  there  is  no  disposition 
to  use  them,  but  because  public  sentiment  would  be 
outraged,  and  jails  and  penitentiaries  are  not  pleas- 
ant places.  The  wicked  and  cunning  spirit  changes 
its  color  to  suit  the  conditions  of  society. 

The  whiskey  ring,  the  great  Diana  of  America  and 
elsewhere,  would  stone  Paul,  or  Jesus,  to-day  if  the 
majesty  of  the  civil  law  would  defend  them  in  the 
deed  as  it  does  in  the  odious  traffic  that  sends  mil- 
lions of  men  to  death  and  hell,  and  their  posterity 
to  beggary,  the  poor-houses,  jails  and  the  peniten- 
tiaries. They  hate  the  church,  its  ministers  espe- 
cially, and  carry  a  handy  weapon  in  the  tongue 
which,  inflamed  by  hatred,  is  ever  ready  to  express 
the  attitude  of  the  heart  in  abuse  or  slander. 

Despise.  This  is  a  very  common  method  in  ston- 
ing Jesus  and  His  church.  His  wonderful  life,  the 
church  He  came  to  establish',  are  too  little  and  insig- 
nificant to  notice.  The  offer  of  salvation  through 
Christ  is  treated  with  scorn  and  contempt.  This 
class  is  numerous.  They  see  nothing  in  the  church 
to  excite  love  or  hatred.  It  is  beneath  their  atten- 
tion. Saul  hated,  but  confessed  by  his  crusade  against 
the  church  that  there  was  no  room  for  indifference. 
Pilate,  though  an  ambitious  heathen,  was  strongly 
impressed  that  Jesus  was  neither  contemptible  nor 
guilty,  and  against  the  protest  of  the  Jews  wrote  on 
the  cross :  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  King  of  the 
Jews."  To  his  credit,  he  did  not  despise  Jesus. 
Herod  did.  To  him,  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  a  poor, 
contemptible  pretender,  to  be  laughed  at  for  His  folly. 


Stoning  Jesus. 


69 


He  had  no  respect  for  His  person,  claims  or  feelings, 
but  demanded  the  exercise  of  His  skill  in  perform- 
ing tricks  to  gratify  his  curiosity.  To  all  his  ques- 
tions, Jesus,  who,  under  all  circumstances  heretofore, 
was  ready  to  answer  politely,  and  instruct  even  His 
enemies,  answered  not  a  word.  The  contempt  was 
mutual,  and  Herod,  with  his  men  of  war,  set  Him 
at  naught,  arrayed  Him  in  a  gorgeous  robe,  and 
treated  His  person,  claims  and  trial  with  supercilious 
scorn.  The  Word  of  God  gives  the  alarm  and  warns 
us  that  all  who  despise  Him  shall  be  lightly  esteemed. 
They  who  despise  His  law  and  the  riches  of  His 
grace,  are  heaping  Up  wrath  against  the  day  of 
wrath  and  of  the  righteous  judgment  to  come.  Then 
He  will  despise  in  return;  laugh  at  their  calamity, 
and  mock  when  their  fear  cometh.  "Fools  despise 
wisdom,"  and  must  reap  the  rewards  of  their  folly 
when  it  is  too  late.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that  thou- 
sands who  had  every  opportunity  to  witness  the  mir- 
acles, study  the  spotless  life  and  investigate  the  claim 
of  the  Son  of  God,  were  not  impressed  beyond  a  pass- 
ing curiosity  that  vanished  when  the  novelty  ceased 
to  attract. 

Anyway,  the  impressions  could  not  have  been  deep, 
for  he  made  ver}^  few  disciples.  Despisers  are  nu- 
merous and  common  in  our  day.  It  is  a  melancholy 
fact  that  thousands  who  throng  the  streets  of  our 
towns  and  cities,  where  churches  are  convenient,  and 
faithful  men  called  of  God  to  preach  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  which  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation, 
despise  the  services  of  the  church.    The  ring  of  the 


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North  Carolina  Sermons. 


church  bell  "that  calls  the  people  to  the  temple  of 
God,  where,  with  prayerful  attention  they  may  learn 
the  way  that  leads  from  hell  to  heaven,  makes  no 
more  impression  on  them  than  the  rattle  of  the  cart- 
wheels on  the  pavement,  or  the  shriek  of  the  engine  that 
indicates  the  arrival  of  the  mail  train.  New  and 
costly  churches  are  erected,  new  preachers,  new 
methods  employed  to  attract  the  ungodly  and  win 
their  souls;  and  for  a  season  the  sanctuary  is  filled, 
and  the  prospect  encouraging,  but  the  sensation  soon 
passes  away  like  the  morning  dew  kissed  by  the  sun- 
beams. 

The  despisers  are  by  no  means  confined  to  the 
cities.  Men  are  alike  everywhere.  Within  walking 
distance  of  the  average  country  church,  men,  women 
and  children  are  found  desecrating  the  Sabbath  while 
the  weary,  faithful  preacher  delivers  his  message. 
The  prayer  and  class-meetings,  especially  are  treated 
with  indifference,  and  the  Sunday-school  can  hardly 
command  half  the  children  in  the  community. 

Jesus,  by  parable,  illustrates  the  manner  in  which 
this  class  rejects  the  offer  of  salvation.  The  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  like  a  certain  king  who  sent  his  servants 
to  invite  his  neighbors  and  subjects  to  the  marriage 
of  his  son, "  and  they  would  not  come."  Others  were 
sent,  with  instructions  to  say :  "  Behold,  I  have  pre- 
pared my  dinner;  my  oxen  and  fatlings  are  killed, 
and  all  things  are  ready  ;  come  unto  the  marriage." 

But  they  made  light  of  it  and  went  their  ways." 
How  much  like  the  present.  The  King  of  Heaven 
sends  His  servants  among  all  conditions  of  men, 


Stoning  Jesus. 


71 


to  rich  and  poor,  to  ignorant  and  cultured,  to  the 
crowded  cities  and  into  the  highways  and  hedges,  to 
proclaim  the  good  tidings:  "  Come, for  all  things  are 
now  ready."  The  way  is  open,  the  feast  is  free,  and 
you  are  welcome.  More,  if  you  stay,  you  must  per- 
ish. To  come  means  pardon,  salvation,  heaven  ;  to 
treat  with  contempt  means  eternal  death. 

Christ  the  Son,  by  His  one  oblation  on  the  cross, 
is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  the  sin  of  the  whole 
world,  and  God  and  the  sinner  have  the  right-of-way 
to  meet  at  the  cross  on  terms  of  reconciliation  and 
eternal  friendship.  Come,  ye  sinners  condemned  by 
the  law  you  have  broken ;  "  Come,  for  all  things  are 
now  ready," 

"  Rut  they  made  light  of  it."  The  modern  evangelist 
has  tried  his  sensational  methods,  not  in  the  hedges 
among  the  poor,  but  in  the  cities  where  crowds  can 
be  gathered  who  will  pay  him  for  creating  an  enthu- 
siastic uproar,  which,  like  the  waves  driven  by  the 
wild  winds,  return  to  their  normal  condition  when 
the  storm  is  over.  Preachers  are  caught  in  the  whirl 
and  cry  "  God  speed,"  until  the  inevitable  reaction, 
when  they  discover  that  the  best  rendered  services 
are  despised.  The  last  state  is  worse  than  the  first. 
Heaven  help  us  when  hand-shaking  in  the  spirit  of 
enthusiasm  only  is  substituted  for  the  new  birth 

The  Bible.  This  wonderful  book  is  a  revelation 
of  Jesus  Christ  and  His  relation  to  our  world  as 
creator  and  redeemer.  From  Genesis  to  Revelation 
the  Holy  Scriptures  testify  of  Him.  To  reject  the 
Bible,  as  a  whole  or  in  part,  means  stoning  Jesus. 


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There  is  no  evasion,  It  contains  His  word,  records 
His  works,  and  reveals  His  person.  In  its  subject 
matter  it  is  too  high  intellectually  to  have  originated 
in  the  minds  of  men ;  and  certainly  too  good  mor- 
rally  to  have  been  enterprised  by  wicked  men. 

The  first  scene  in  the  wonderful  drama,  shows  Him 
in  the  exercise  of  His  creative  power ;  suns  and  sys- 
tems leaping  from  the  womb  of  eternity  to  take  their 
places  in  eternal  space  ;  "  the  heavens  that  declare 
the  glory  of  God." 

These  flashing  suns  and  countless  worlds,  guided 
by  the  hand  of  omnipotent  power  and  infinite  wis- 
dom, continue  to  run  on  in  their  appointed  orbits, 
their  silent  testimony  in  accord  with  the  written 
word  !  "  The  hand  that  made  them  is  divine."  Ye 
despisers  and  haters  of  God  and  of  His  Son  Jesus  Christ, 
are  ye  ready  to  begin  the  battle  ?  We  think  not.  Ye 
are  too  helpless  in  the  presence  of  the  creative  God. 
Last  of  all  He  made  man,  the  crowning  act  of  crea- 
tion. On  him  it  was  His  good  pleasure  to  display 
His  greatest  skill.  His  formation  called  together  the 
divine  council,  who  said  :  "  Let  us  make  man  in  our 
own  image."    The  likeness  and  glory  were  lost  by  sin. 

"  Irnmanuel.11  This  is  His  name  on  earth.  God 
made  manifest  in  the  flesh  to  save  the  world  is  the 
crowning  expression  of  His  grace.  It  was  great  to 
create,  but  it  was  greater  to  redeem  ;  greater  in  love, 
labor  and  suffering,  if  not  in  power.  Let  us  follow 
our  Irnmanuel  and  see  what  He  is  doing  and  suffer- 
ing. Here  is  a  poor  beggar  by  the  wayside,  so  far  as 
human  aid  is  concerned,  hopelessly  blind.    No  man 


Stoning  Jesus. 


73 


who  can  see  can  estimate  the  loss.  Humiliated  and 
helpless,  he  opens  his  palm  when  he  hears  the  tramp  of 
human  feet  with  the  piteous  cry,  "I  am  blind !"  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  is  passing  by.  It  may  be  his  last  chance, 
and  the  multitude  are  startled  by  the  cry  of  hope, 
"  0  Lord,  thou  son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me  !  " 
He  hopes  that  Jesus  will  open  his  eyes.  Deaf  to  the 
reproof  of  the  disciples,  he  repeats  the  prayer  with 
increased  energy,  and  strains  his  sightless  eyes  in 
hope,  until,  in  His  mercy,  as  well  as  in  evidence  of 
His  divine  right  and  power,  Jesus  opens  his  eyes 
and  sends  him  on  his  way  rejoicing.  Let  us  go  to 
Bethesda.  Among  the  many  waiting  with  hope 
deferred  that  maketh  the  heart  sick  for  the  moving 
of  the  waters,  Jesus  is  speaking  to  a  man  who  for 
thirty-eight  years  has  been  a  hopeless  paralytic. 
To  the  question,  "  Wilt  thou  be  made  whole?"  he 
answers  in  despondent  accents,  "  I  have  no  one  to 
help  me."  It  is  a  sad  case,  seemingly  hopeless  and 
forsaken.  Help  has  come  at  last.  His  whole  frame 
is  quivering  under  the  influence  of  an  unseen  energy. 
The  rainbow  of  hope  is  kindled  in  his  eyes. 

The  shrunken  muscles  are  rounding,  the  dead  limbs 
throbbing  in  response  to  the  blood  dancing  once 
more  through  its  long  deserted  channels!  "The 
lame  walk,"  is  a  tame  expression  to  describe  the  glad 
man,  restored  to  health,  gathering  up  his  bed  and 
leaping  like  elastic  youth  to  spread  the  glad  tidings 
to  others.  Who  will  cast  the  first  stone  ?  Attention ! 
In  appearance  and  condition  here  is  the  most 
wretched  case  we  have  found.    From  the  crown  of 


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North  Carolina  Sermons. 


his  head  to  the  soles  of  his  feet  there  is  no  sound- 
ness. He  is  so  loathsome,  and  his  disease  so  danger- 
ous, that  the  law  has  ostracised  him  and  left  him 
alone  in  his  wretchedness.  "He  is  a  leper,"  who,  in 
hope  and  fear,  falls  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  with  the  cry 
for  help:  "Lord,  if  thou  wilt  thou  canst  make  me 
clean."  Wonderful  change!  The  scabby  leprosy  is 
gone  at  the  bidding  of  the  Great  Physician,  and 
leaves  no  mark  on  its  deserted  victim. 

To  the  mansion  of  the  dead !  Surely  if  the  dead 
are  raised  up  his  enemies  will  surrender.  Four  days 
ago  Mary  and  Martha,  the  sisters  of  Lazarus,  fol- 
lowed him  in  the  funeral  march,  and  as  they  thought 
kissed  him  for  the  last  time  until  they  should  meet 
at  the  gates  of  the  city.  Oftener  than  to  any  other 
place  Jesus  had  directed  His  weary  steps  to  the 
pleasant  home  at  Bethany.  No  wonder,  for  they 
loved  Him  devotedly.  His  friend  Lazarus  had  died 
while  He  was  off  on  duty.  The  sisters  sent  Him 
word  that  their  brother  was  sick,  but  He  did  not 
come.  They  were  hurt,  and  said:  "If  Jesus  had 
been  here  our  brother  would  not  have  died."  They 
told  Him  so  when  He  came  four  days  after.  He 
said,  "I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life."  I  know 
he  is  dead,  but  I  am  going  to  raise  him  up.  I  am 
here  for  that  purpose.  The  crowd  had  gathered,  and 
while  He  prays  the  tear-drops  hang  like  pearls  on 
his  quivering  eye-lids. 

"Jesus  Wept"  He  is  a  man,  but  says:  "Take  ye- 
away  the  stone."  The  whole  scene  is  growing  pro- 
foundly impressive.   What  is  He  going  to  do?  With 


Stoning  Jesus. 


75 


a  loud  voice,  He  cries:  "  Lazarus,  come  forth." 
Heaven  and  earth  bear  witness,  can  the  dead  hear 
His  voice?  Will  death  surrender  its  prey  to  the 
Nazarene  ?  See,  the  dead  scribe  is  moving.  His  eyes 
are  open.  His  hollow  cheeks,  a  few  moments  ago 
cold  and  pale  as  the  marble  slab,  are  rounding  out, 
and  the  life-blood  throbbing  through  his  veins  paints 
on  them  the  hue  of  health.  He  is  alive.  There  is 
no  room  for  doubt.  Jesus  says,  "  Loose  him  and  let 
him  go."  He  and  his  sisters  are  locked  in  each 
others  arms.  Jesus  looks  on  His  work,  an  object- 
lesson  to  teach  them  that  all  who  are  in  their  graves 
shall  hear  his  voice  and  come  forth. 

"  On  to  the  Cross"  We  go  now  to  study  His  suffer- 
ings. The  wolves  have  Him  at  last.  From  the  time 
He  lay  on  the  bosom  of  Mary — the  child  born,  "  the 
son  given,"  as  predicted  by  the  royal  prophet  and 
others,  the  angles  singing  His  birth  song,  the  wise 
men  and  shepherds  presenting  their  costly  gifts  as 
well  as  the  adoration  of  their  hearts — the  wolf  of 
hell,  with  his  furious  pack,  had  been  on  His  track, 
and  at  last  the  Good  Shepherd  surrenders,  all  man- 
gled and  torn,  and  shrieking  in  the  agonies  of  death. 
Hatred  has  reached  its  limit,  it  can  do  no  more  to 
His  person  or  character.  His  humiliation  and  suf- 
ferings are  complete.  He  is  dying  as  a  criminal,  con- 
demned by  His  own  people,  on  a  Roman  cross.  This 
is  sacrificial  work — is  the  crowning  act  in  the  plan 
of  redemption. 

"  O  Lamb  of  God,  was  ever  pain, 
Was  ever  love  like  thine  !  " 


76 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


Ye  sinners,  haters  and  despisers  of  Jesus,  His  law 
and  His  gospel,  depend  on  it  here  is  your  only  chance 
for  salvation  and  heaven.  Reject  Him  if  you  will, 
stone  Him  on  the  cross,  wag  your  heads  in  mockery, 
drive  the  biting  steel  through  His  bleeding  heart  as 
well  as  through  His  hands  and  feet,  and  laugh  at 
His  gory  temples  torn  by  the  piercing  thorns,  but 
remember,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Son  of  God,  is  dying 
for  you !  Before  you  cast  the  first  stone  and  reject 
Him  forever,  remember  what  He  is  to  you.  He  is  the 
light  of  the  world,  which,  if  quenched,  outer  dark- 
ness begins.  He  is  Lord  of  Lords  and  King  of 
Kings,  able  to  save  or  destroy  to  the  uttermost.  As 
King  He  must  reign  until  He  puts  all  His  enemies 
under  His  feet.  In  His  hands  are  the  issues  of  life 
and  of  death.  To  Him  every  knee  shall  bow  and  every 
tongue  confess.  It  is  infinitely  wiser  to  bow  at  the 
cross  where  mercy  is  sought  and  pardon  is  found, 
than  to  bow  in  hell  amid  the  shrieking  horrors  of 
eternal  death.  "  The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into 
hell,  and  all  the  nations  that  forget  God." 

From  the  cross  they  took  Him  to  the  tomb,  but  it 
could  not  hold  Him.  In  three  days  He  came  out  the 
conqueror  of  death,  flushed  with  victory  and  ready 
for  additional  conquests.  From  heaven,  where  He 
ascended  to  His  Father,  He  will  come  again  to  judge 
the  world  in  righteousness.  The  throne  of  mercy  will 
have  changed  into  "  the  great  white  throne,"  from 
which  the  thunderbolts  of  wrath  shall  be  hurled 
against  all  ungodliness  and  wicked  men. 


At  Thy  Word. 


77 


"  Down  to  hell,  there's  no  redemption, 

Every  Christless  soul  must  go." 
"Sinners  turn,  why  will  ye  die? 

God,  your  Saviour,  asks  you  why. 
God  the  Father,  God  the  Spirit,  join  the  earnest  cry, 

Why  will  ye  curse  your  Lord  and  die  ? " 

The  church  below,  with  all  its  agencies,  warns  and 
beseeches  you  to  lay  down  your  weapons  at  the 
cross,  and  wash  your  sins  in  the  blood.  No  longer 
dare  delay.  The  golden  moments  are  passing  by 
freighted  with  infinite  values,  which,  if  improved, 
leads  to  glory  and  to  God.  Let  no  one  take  your 
crown.  Repent  of  your  sins,  tell  Jesus  that  you 
are  sorry  that  you  have  ever  stoned  Him.  Join 
in  the  army  of  the  Lord,  quit  your  sins,  watch 
and  pray,  read  the  scriptures,  attend  the  church 
and  sing  with  them,  "  The  crowning  day  is  coming 
by  and  by."  Life  is  too  short,  and  heaven  is  too  val- 
uable to  admit  of  indecision  for  a  moment,  to  say 
nothing  of  hating  and  despising  the  Lord  and  His 
church.  When  you  belittle  Christ,  you  despise  your 
own  soul.  You  cannot  despise  Jesus  without  despis- 
ing yourself,  your  life,  your  happiness  and  heaven. 


"AT  THY  WORD." 

By  Rev.  W.  S.  Rone, 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  (M.  E.  C,  S.). 

"And  Simon  answering  said  unto  Him,  Master  we  have  toiled  all  the 
night  and  have  taken  nothing:  nevertheless  at  thy  word  I  will  let  down 
the  net."   Luke  t:  5. 

What  a  sublime  act  is  that  of  simple  unquestion- 
ing obedience  to  the  word  of  God,  especially  when 


78 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


that  word  is  unsupported  by,  and  seemingly  con- 
trary to,  the  lessons  of  reason  and  experience.  The 
Master  had  come  to  the  disciples  on  the  lake-side  in 
the  morning,  just  at  the  time  when,  wearied  and 
disheartened  at  fishing  all  the  night  and  taking  noth- 
ing, they  had  withdrawn  their  nets  from  the  water 
and  were  washing  them.  After  speaking  to  the  peo- 
ple, he  said  to  Peter  "Launch  out  into  the  deep  and 
let  down  your  nets  for  "a  draught."  The  night  was 
the  time  for  fishing  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  for,  with 
the  clear  water  of  the  lake,  and  the  bright  rays  of 
the  sunlight,  the  fish  could  easily  see  and  avoid  the 
meshes  of  the  net  by  day.  It  was  not  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  they  could  catch  fish  now,  by  daylight, 
when  they  had  failed  to  do  so  after  fishing  all  the 
night.  But  Peter  recognized  the  voice  that  spake  to 
him  as  above  all  his  reasoning  and  discouraging 
experience  of  the  night,  and  he  said,  "Nevertheless 
at  thy  word  I  will  let  down  the  net." 

At  thy  word.  What  a  point  from  which  to  pro- 
ceed !  What  an  authority  on  which  to  act !  He  let 
down  the  net,  and,  in  doing  this,  performed  one  of 
the  sublimest  acts  on  record.  Though  the  simple 
act  of  an  humble  fisherman  in  lowly  life,  it  was  an 
act  of  faith  and  obedience,  done  at  the  word  of 
God,  that  put  him  into  line  with  the  forces  and 
marching  of  the  ages.  All  else  in  the  universe  moves 
at  the  word  of  God  except  fallen  men  and  fallen 
angels,  and  we  come  into  the  mighty  procession  only 
when  we  have  learned  to  be  perfectly  obedient  to 
the  word  of  the  Lord.    "At  Thy  Word  "  is  the  high- 


At  Thy  Word. 


79 


•est  possible  wisdom,  and  it  ought  to  be  the  supreme 
thought  of  all  Christians  to  know  what  the  word 
of  God  is,  and  be  directed  by  it  in  everything,  in  all 
that  we  say  and  do — in  the  week-day  and  on  the 
Sabbath;  in  the  church  and  in  the  world;  in  our 
spiritual  beliefs  and  secular  acts — at  thy  word. 

"  At  thy  word  I  will  let  down  the  net."  The  term 
net  may  here  apply  to  whatever  instrumentalities 
of  good  God  may  command  us  to  use,  or  let  down, 
or  throw  out.  We  are  fishing  in  the  sea  of  life, 
and  we  are  frequently  very  much  discouraged  and 
disappointed  and  downcast,  and  feel  like  it  is  no 
use  to  go  further,  or  try  longer.  But  whenever 
there  is  a  clear  duty  laid  on  us,  a  plain  "Thus  saith 
the  Lord,"  whether  we  can  see  the  way  before  us  or 
not,  our  response  should  ever  be  like  that  of  Peter, 
"  Nevertheless  at  thy  word  I  will  let  down  the  net." 

I.  In  the  first  place,  we  should,  at  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  let  down  the  net  in  the  waters  of  business- 
life,  of  honest  industry  and  effort  for  the  things  of 
this  life.  Many  a  man,  amidst  the  financial  dark- 
ness that  has  lasted  so  long,  especially  in  our  rural 
life,  that  is  now  so  deep  and  so  slow  to  break  away, 
is  at  the  point  of  giving  up  his  work  and  running 
away  from  his  business.  Many  an  individual,  many 
a  business  enterprise  useful,  and  ordinarily  profita- 
ble, is  on  the  verge  of  abandonment.  Many  a  hand 
is  holding  loosely  and  despairingly  the  plane  and 
the  plow-handle  and  the  lever  because  of  the  deep 
discouragement — because  they  "  have  toiled  all  the 
night  and  have  taken  nothing."    Worse  than  that, 


80 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


there  are  those  in  the  midst,  or  on  the  verge,  of  want ; 
out  of  anything  to  go  on,  out  of  work,  out  of  em- 
ployment, seeking  but  despairing  of  finding  it,  and 
possibly  at  the  point  of  sitting  down  and  saying  "  I 
will  try  no  longer." 

And  yet  there  is  nothing  more  clearly  and  strongly 
commanded,  and  which  we  may,  therefore,  pursue 
with  greater  faith  in  the  helping  hand  and  provi- 
dence of  God,  than  a  needful  supply  of  the  things  of 
this  life.  "  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor  and  do  all  thy 
work,"  is  God's  word,  "  Let  every  man  abide  in  the 
same  calling  wherein  he  was  called."  "  Owe  no 
man  anything;  provide  things  honest  in  the  sight  of 
all  men."  "  He  that  provideth  not  for  his  own,  and 
especially  for  those  of  his  own  house,  he  hath  denied 
the  faith  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel."  It  is  a  great 
duty  bound  upon  us  by  the  Word  of  God  to  be  dili- 
gent in  business  and  daily  industry  to  the  end  that 
we  may  provide  for  our  own,  and  owe  no  man  any- 
thing. It  was  in  this  that  Peter  was  engaged  at  the 
time,  and  for  which  the  Saviour  told  him  to  let  down 
his  net,  for  what?  For  a  draught  of  fishes.  To 
what  end?  That  the  wants  of  the  body  might  be 
met.  And  we  may  rest  assured  that  God,  whose 
word  is  so  strong  in  regard  to  this  great  duty,  will,  if 
we  perform  it  faithfully,  and  with  faith  in  Him,  pre- 
pare an  opening  and  a  way  for  us,  although  we  can- 
not see  it  now. 

Peter's  reward  for  letting  down  his  net  "  at  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  was  that  it  was  immediately  filled 
with  such  a  draught  of  fishes  that  it  began  to  break." 


At  Thy  Word. 


81 


And  so  we  are  to  go  on  letting  down  the  net  of 
daily  business  and  frugal,  diligent  industry,  whether 
results  are  satisfactory  and  the  future  very  promising 
or  not.  We  know  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth, 
or  what  the  future  may  have  awaiting  us.  It  is  true 
that  your  best  endeavors  will  not  of  themselves,, 
bring  you  prosperity,  that  "  except  the  Lord  build 
the  house,  they  labor  in  vain  that  build  it."  But  we 
know,  also,  that  God  will  not  forsake  His  people. 
"  Trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good,"  He  says,  "  so- 
shalt  thou  dwell  in  the  land,  and  verily  thou  shalt 
be  fed."  God's  word  to  everyone  of  you  is  "  quit 
yourselves  like  men,"  be  strung,  gird  up  the  loins  of 
your  mind,  be  sober,  stund  fast.  Throw  not  away 
your  shield ;  "  cast  not  away  your  confidence." 
Stand  steadily  in  your  rank  till  the  tide  of  battle 
turns.  Do  not  cease  from  your  efforts,  though  dis- 
couraged. It  is  ours  to  till  the  soil  and  sow  the  seed 
and  water  the  garden-bed  and  spread  the  net,  and  it 
is  of  God,  who  makes  this  our  duty,  to  give  the 
increase ;  and  if  we  cannot  see  much  in  our  own 
experience  or  judgment  to  encourage  to  this,  it  being 
duty,  we  are  to  say,  like  Peter,  "  Nevertheless  at  thy 
word  I  will  let  down  the  net." 

And  God  would  have  us  do  this  cheerfully  and 
bravely,  not  gloomily  and  despairingly,  that  the  world 
may  see  that  there  is  that  in  the  Christian  religion 
that  can  sustain  the  soul  in  great  financial  straits, 
as  well  as  in  great  spiritual  needs.  Our  Lord  does 
not  want  as  His  followers  cowards  who  cannot  fight 
the  common  battles  of  life.  How,  then,  should  we 
6 

! 


82 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


be  prepared  for  that  lordly  chivalry  of  service,  that 
"wrestle"  with  "spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places?" 
We  are  to  be  heroic  examples  of  the  great  moral 
virtues  of  fortitude  and  endurance  amidst  difficulties, 
as  well  as  shining  patterns  of  the  beautiful  spiritual 
graces.  Therefore,  at  the  bidding  of  the  Lord,  work 
on  with  mind  and  heart  and  will.  This  may  be  the 
trial  that  precedes  the  day  of  plenty.  At  His  word 
let  down  the  net  once  more.  He  may  intend  largely 
to  bless  you  when,  by  trial,  you  have  been  prepared 
for  the  benediction. 

II.  In  the  second  place,  we  must,  at  the  word  of 
the  Lord,  let  down  the  net  in  the  waters  of  spiritual 
good,  of  personal  deliverance  from  sin,  and  securing 
of  eternal  life.  The  true  Christian  life  is  always  a 
life  of  progress  and  advancement,  of  intense  longings 
in  the  first  place  for  a  better  and  a  holier  state,  and 
then  of  successive  steps  taken  by  faith.  And  yet 
each  one  of  these  steps,  from  the  first  one  that  makes 
him  a  Christian  and  places  his  feet  within  the  king- 
dom to  the  one  that  places  him  high  in  saintliness  of 
character  here,  and  in  glorious  exaltation  hereafter, 
is  a  step  taken  at  the  word  of  God.  It  is  a  step  taken 
not  because  we  have  experienced  the  way,  or  have 
been  there  before,  but  because  God's  Word  bids  us 
take  it,  to  reach  out,  to  "  let  down  the  net"  of  faith, 
to  trust  Him. 

What  but  the  word  of  God  to  the  children  of 
Israel  first  induced  them  to  start  out  of  Egypt,  and 
then  to  move  seemingly  right  down  into  the  Red 
Sea,  and  then  right  down  against  the  waters  of  the 


At  Thy  Word. 


83 


Jordan  when  overflowing  its  banks,  and  then  again 
right  into  the  hostile  land  of  Canaan.  They  did  not 
see  the  wonderful  salvation  that  God  had  provided 
just  ahead  of  them,  and  it  was  contrary  to  all  reason 
and  all  experience  that  there  could  be  such.  But 
"at  His  word  "  they  went  forward,  and  the  sea 
opened,  and  the  Jordan  divided,  and  the  walled 
cities  of  their  enemies  were  thrown  down.  And  so 
God  has  wrought  salvation  and  deliverance  for  mil- 
lions of  His  people  when  they  have  moved  against 
difficulties  at  His  word.  Thus  He  has  provided  it 
for  us.  Perfect  emancipation,  complete  deliverance 
from  sin !  Glorious  rescue  is  what  He  promises. 
"  If  the  Son  shall  make  free,  you  shall  be  free  in- 
deed." "  Come  now  and  let  us  reason  together, 
though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  the}'  shall  be  white 
as  snow,  and  though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they 
shall  be  as  wool."'  And  He  bids  us  let  down  the  net 
in  these  waters. 

What,  then,  is  your  peculiar  condition  in  the  sight 
of  God  ?  Do  I  address  some  one  who  is  not  a  Chris- 
tian, but  earnestly  desirous  of  becoming  one — who 
has,  perhaps,  many  times  come  up  to  the  sanctuary 
hoping  to  obtain  salvation  from  sin,  peace  of  mind 
and  rest  of  soul  on  the  bosom  of  God,  and  saying, 
"Oh,  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  Him  ?  "  I  would 
beg  you  earnestly  in  His  name  to  wait  no  longer. 
Let  down  the  net  once  more;  let  it  down  now.  His 
word  is  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Say  to  Him, 
"  Lord,  Jesus,  at  thy  word  I  come  to  thee." 


84 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


"  Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea, 
But  that  thy  blood  was  shed  for  me, 
And  that  thou  bid'st  me  come  to  thee, 
Oh  Lamb  of  God,  I  come,  I  come." 

Or  do  you  believe  yourself  to  be  a  Christian,  but 
dissatified  with  your  attainment  in  the  divine  life? 
Struggling  to  rise  higher,  to  come  nearer  to  God,  to 
be  purer  and  better,  to  dwell  in  the  bright  light  of 
His  countenance,  hungering  and  thirsting  after 
righteousness,  your  song 

"  Nearer  my  God  to  thee,  nearer  to  thee  ?  " 

Then  do  not  despair.  These  are  things  that  be- 
token mighty  victory.  These  are  the  gifts  that  God 
is  most  willing  to  bestow.  "  Covet  earnestly  the  best 
gifts,"  is  His  word.  "  Blessed  are  they  which  do 
hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  for  they  shall 
be  filled."  In  His  name,  and  at  His  word,  let  down 
the  net  into  the  water  of  these  promises,  and  it  shall 
be  filled  full,  till  you  shall  be  prepared  to  shine  in 
His  presence  forever  and  forever. 

III.  But  there  is  a  third  sense  in  which,  at  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  we  are  to  let  down  the  net.  Peter's 
fishing  in  this  case  wTas  not  for  food  or  for  self  only. 
This  was  the  immediate  object;  but,  as  Christ's  dis- 
ciple, it  was  typical  of  a  higher  service  that  he  was 
soon  to  render.  With  wonder  and  surprise  still 
depicted  in  tbeir  faces  at  the  great  draught  of  fishes 
just  taken,  he  turned  to  the  disciples  and  said,  "Come 
and  follow  me:  henceforth  I  will  make  you  fishers 
of  men."  So  he  says  to  every  one  of  his  disciples 
now.    We  are  to  be  fishers  of  men.    We  are,  there- 


At  Thy  Word. 


85 


fore,  at  the  word  of  the  Lord,  to  let  down  the  net 
for  the  perishing  souls  of  men  out  of  Christ.  This  is 
His  word.  He  says,  "As  every  man  hath  received 
the  gift,  even  so  minister  the  same  one  to  another  as 
good  stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God."  The 
bride,  the  church,  must  with  myriad  tongues  unite 
with  the  Spirit  in  saying  "come." 

The  first  thing  that  Andrew  did  when  he  had 
found  Christ  was  to  seek  out  and  bring  his  own 
brother,  Simon,  likewise,  and  this  is  the  great  business, 
the  great  life-work  of  believers,  the  winning  of  souls, 
the  bringing  of  others  to  Christ.  Everyone  is  charged 
with  a  commission  and  a  warrant  to  seek  the  con- 
version of  his  fellows.  But  for  this,  the  people  of 
God,  pure  in  heart  and  prepared  for  heaven,  would 
be  taken  home  to  the  better  life,  there  to  swell  the 
harmony  of  the  heavenly  song.  But  the  need  is  so 
great,  the  work  is  so  urgent  here,  that  they  are  kept 
in  the  world  for  awhile,  where  for  them  "to  live  is 
Christ."  But  they  must  be  at  the  work,  and  they 
must  be  at  it  with  the  word,  which  is  the  great  gos- 
pel "  net."  That  is  the  power  of  God  unto  the  salva- 
tion of  all  who  believe,  whether  preached  in  public 
to  the  great  congregation,  or  in  private  in  the  ear  of 
the  individual.  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like 
unto  a  net  which  a  man  cast  into  the  sea." 

Are  we  "letting  down  "  this  net  faithfully?  Are 
there  any  who  can  rise  up  in  the  judgment  and 
accuse  you  of  unfaithfulness  to  them  ?  It  may  be 
there  are  some  of  you,  who,  for  long  days  and  nights, 
for  weeks  and  months  possibly,  and  even  years,  have 

I 


86 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


prayed  and  worked  and  waited  for  the  conversion  of 
certain  ones,  dear  children,  or  loving  friends  and 
acquaintances,  in  the  fond  hope  of  seeing  them  com- 
ing home  to  Christ.  But  while  others  have  come, 
you  have  only  been  disappointed  and  disappointed, 
until  the  heart  has  grown  sick  and  sad,  and  you  feel 
only  like  saying  to  the  Master,  "  I  have  toiled  all  the 
night  and  have  taken  nothing."  But  as  it  is  His 
command,  will  you  add  the  remainder  and,  like 
Peter,  say,  "  Nevertheless  at  thy  word  I  will  let 
down  the  net." 

There  are  some  who  are  doing  nothing  in  this 
work,  nothing  in  the  church,  nothing  in  the  Sabbath- 
school,  nothing  in  their  homes,  nothing  among  their 
neighbors.  You  hear  them  say  sometimes  that  they 
*•  have  had  their  day  in  the  Sabbath-school  and 
church  work."  The  inference  is  that  they  now  feel 
authorized  to  take  it  easy.  What  a  thought !  Taking 
it  easy  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  when  he  says  "  Woe 
to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion."  Are  we  not 
ashamed  of  the  case  when  plainly  stated  ?  Can  we 
cease  from  service  when  we  do  not  cease  from  receiv- 
ing mercy?  Yes,  we  shall  take  it  easy  soon,  very 
soon  !  There  will  be  rest  enough  in  the  grave.  "The 
night  of  death  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work,"  the 
long  dark  night  of  death,  when  seed  can  be  no  longer 
sown  or  sheaves  garnered  for  the  Master's  use.  Lo  ! 
He  cometh."  Let  us,  then,  to  the  work,  with  a  heart 
to  do,  brave  and  true,  and,  in  the  great  "crowning 
day,"  He  will  own  and  reward  us  as  His  own. 


Christ  as  a  Fkiend. 


87 


CHRIST  AS  A  FKIEND. 
By  Rev.  Robert  P.  Pell,  Presbyterian  Evangelist. 


"A  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners."— Matthew  xi :  19. 

We  are  beginning  to  see  more  clearly  every  day 
how  the  Old  Testament  finds  a  complete  illustration 
of  its  contents  in  the  person  and  work  of  our  Lord. 
This  applies  not  only  to  His  fulfillment  of  type  and 
prophecy,  but  likewise  to  the  general  interpretation 
that  His  course  as  Messiah  gives  to  the  history  of 
Israel.  Moreover,  it  may  even  be  claimed  that  many 
lines  of  thought  in  the  didactic  portions  reach  a  con- 
crete expression  in  Him  alone.  If  you  will  examine, 
for  instance,  the  book  of  Proverbs,  you  will  discover, 
scattered  here  and  there,  certain  passages  descriptive 
of  true  friendship,  which,  when  gathered  together, 
form  a  cluster  of  virtues  that  are  embodied  solely  in 
the  character  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  It  would  take  a 
longer  time  than  we  have  at  our  disposal  to  give  a  de- 
tailed examination  and  proof  of  this  statement.  There 
are  certain  traits  of  the  perfect  friend,  however,  that 
are  so  often  lacking  in  the  best  human  representa- 
tives that  we  may  derive  great  comfort  in  meditating 
upon  those  as  exhibited  in  the  life  of  our  Saviour. 

I.  Solomon  asserts  that  "  a  friend  loveth  at  all 
times."  So  it  may  be  said  concerning  our  Lord,  that 
He  never  knew  a  moment  in  His  earthly  career  when 
He  was  unwilling  to  sacrifice  Himself  to  comply 
with  the  demands  made  upon  Him  by  the  most 


88  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


unworthy  suppliant.  How  many  of  us,  on  the  con- 
tra^, can  remember  occasions  when,  on  account  of 
some  momentary  disinclination,  we  have  hesitated  to 
yield  our  time,  possessions  or  sympathy  to  meet  the 
needs  of  those  endeared  to  us.  It  may  have  been 
caused  by  some  ailment  or  infirmity  of  the  body, 
some  temporary  clouding  of  the  mind,  or  some 
depression  of  the  spirits,  for  any  one  of  these  has 
a  tendency  to  estrange  us  tor  a  season,  ofttimes 
unjustly,  from  our  most  intimate  companions.  After- 
wards we  may  have  discovered  that  the  fault  lay  with 
us;  but  that  does  not  relieve  us  from  the  mortifica- 
tion of  having  been  guilty,  to  some  extent,  of  incon- 
stancy. It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  not  an  instance 
of  this  kind  can  be  found  in  the  life  of  our  Saviour. 

Jesus  as  a  friend  is  constant  Do  you  recall  that 
charming  incident  of  His  dealings  with  the  Samari- 
tan woman  at  Jacob's  well?  If  we  had  been  suffer- 
ing from  the  fatigue  under  which  He  was  laboring 
that  day,  doubtless  we  would  readily  have  excused 
ourselves  from  ministering  to  her  in  any  way  what- 
ever. Conscious  of  an  exhausted  frame,  we  become 
very  lenieut  toward  ourselves  when  duty  calls,  and 
neglect  those  whom  we  regard  as  special  favorites, 
trusting  that  their  consideration  for  our  enfeebled  state 
will  lead  them  to  condone  an  occasional  dereliction. 
But  as  soon  as  Jesus  read  the  poor  woman's  counte- 
nance He  analyzed  her  condition  and  deciphered 
her  history,  and  instantly  all  weariness  disappeared 
from  His  body  in  His  eagerness  to  deliver  her  from 
the  terrible  curse  that  awaited  her.    He  forgot  Him- 


Christ  as  a  Friend. 


89 


self  by  being  lost  in  her  case.  This  is  the  key-note 
to  His  constancy — His  entire  and  unbroken  absorp- 
tion in  others. 

Our  constancy  as  friends  sometimes  encounters 
another  hindrance  in  some  outward  circumstance. 
No  severer  test  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon  it  than 
when  we  are  challenged  to  brave  popular  opinion. 
To  stand  by  a  condemned  friend  when  every  voice, 
save  ours,  is  raised  against  him — what  is  this  but  to 
incur  the  suspicion  that  we  are  likewise  partners  in 
his  offense  against  the  public  weal?  But  notice  how 
nobly  Jesus  did  this  in  the  case  of  Zaccheus!  Who 
doubts  but  that  the  most  high-born  and  prosperous 
of  Jericho's  citizens,  carried  away  for  the  nonce  by 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  multitude  that  pressed  to  greet 
Him  on  the  road,  would  have  gladly  thrown  open 
their  mansions  for  the  entertainment  of  our  Lord  ? 
Those  who  are  supplied  with  this  world's  power, 
position  and  possessions  are  ever  ready  to  patronize 
even  the  noted  leader  of  a  religious  reform  if  it  will 
only  gain  for  them  some  moral  prestige.  But  Jesus 
"  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  His 
searching  gaze,  prompted  by  the  anxious  heart  that 
never  failed  to  fix  itself  upon  those  whom  He  came 
to  befriend,  discerned,  amid  the  dust  and  foliage,  the 
inquiring  stare  of  the  outcast  and  despised  Zaccheus. 
"Zaccheus,  come  down;  for  this  day  must  I  abide  at 
thy  house."  No  scorn  or  derision  of  religious  or 
social  bigot  shall  make  Him  turn  the  cold  shoulder 
to  that  "  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."  If  He 
•could  surrender  the  adoration  of  angelic  hosts  to  seek 


90 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


such  as  Zaccheus,  surely  He  can  surrender  the  fickle 
favor  of  a  mob  of  men  to  save  him. 

We  offer  you  in  Jesus  a  constant  friend.  This  is 
because  His  nature  is  unchangeable.  "Jesus  Christ 
the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  forever."  No  inward 
or  outward  forces  can  avail  to  affect  His  attitude 
toward  the  objects  ©f  His  devotion.  He  is  a  friend 
"  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother."  Oh  !  how  you 
need  Him  in  this  ever-shifting  scene.  Changes  are 
continually  taking  place  in  our  constitution  and  sur- 
roundings that  reveal  more  and  more  our  helpless- 
ness. At  every  turn  hi  life  we  meet  with  some  new 
experiences  that  force  us  to  depend  upon  others.  The 
transition  from  health  to  sickness,  from  prosperity  to 
want,  from  life  to  death,  how  they  throw  us  willingly 
or  unwilling  upon  the  kindly  offices  of  our  fellows 
in  suffering!  Realizing  this,  upon  whom  can  we 
lean  with  assurance  of  being  succored  at  all  times 
but  upon  Him  "who  changeth  not." 

"  Abide  with  me  ;  fast  falls  the  eventide  ; 
The  darkness  deepens,  Lord,  with  me  abide  ; 
When  other  helpers  fail,  and  comforts  flee, 
Help  of  the  helpless,  Oh!  abide  with  me. 

"Swift  to  its  close,  ebbs  out  life's  little  day  ; 
Earth's  joys  grow  dim,  its  glories  pass  away  ; 
Change  and  decay  in  all  around  I  see  ; 
Oh!  Thou  who  changest  not,  abide  with  me." 

II.  The  author  of  the  Proverbs  tells  us  in  another 
place,  "Faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend."  To 
inflict  pain  upon  others  will  most  likely  result  in 
bringing  it  back  upon  ourselves.    However  much  wTe 


Christ  as  a  Friend. 


91 


may  be  willing  to  perform  this  office  (and  some  are 
only  too  eager  to  do  it),  we  are  liable  to  resent  it 
when  it  is  visited  upon  our  own  persons.  Yet  a 
judicious  discharge  of  this  unpleasant  duty  is  neces- 
sary if  you  ever  expect  to  be  a  friend  in  the  noblest 
sense.  To  refuse  to  do  it  when  it  is  for  the  highest 
good  of  our  fellow-men,  is,  as  a  rule,  an  indication 
that  we  love  ourselves  more  than  our  neighbor. 
This  difficulty,  as  much  as  any  other,  renders  so- 
called  friendship  an  unfruitful  thing. 

Now  Jesus  never  hesitated  to  do  this.  As  a  friend 
He  is  faithful.  To  be  so  must  at  times  have  been  at 
the  expense  of  the  generous  promptings  of  His  bosom. 
As  the  humble  Syro-phenician  woman  bowed  before 
Him  to  plead  in  behalf  of  her  afflicted  daughter, 
surely  His  instant  impulse  must  have  been  to  grant 
her  request  without  further  parleying.  To  hesitate 
for  a  moment  must  have  caused  Him  to  endure  all 
the  agony  that  an  appearance  of  cruelty  on  the  part 
of  a  heart  conscious  of  its  own  infinite  tenderness 
could  inflict.  Yet  the  eternal  welfare  of  this  woman 
required  instruction  as  to  the  right  relationship  be- 
tween Him  as  a  covenanted  Redeemer  and  herself  as 
a  Gentile  sinner,  and  in  order  to  enlighten  her  He 
must  for  a  moment  veil  His  larger  intentions.  But 
His  wounding  her  was  in  order  to  her  abundant  heal- 
ing— He  must  be  faithful  if  she  were  to  be  saved. 

On  another  occasion  Jesus  had  to  utter  mysterious 
and  unwelcome  doctrines.  He  was  at  the  very  flood- 
tide  of  His  popularity.  To  all  appearances,  if  He 
only  continued  to  win  the  hearts  of  the  masses  as 


92  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


He  had  already  done,  the  whole  nation  with  one 
voice  would  proclaim  His  Messiahship.  From  a 
human  standpoint,  it  was  very  important  for  the 
accomplishment  of  His  mission  that  He  should  not 
alienate  anyone  from  His  standard.  But  Jesus  must 
be  faithful  in  dealing  with  the  souls  of  His  people. 
To  withhold  a  particle  of  the  revelation  God  had 
commissioned  Him  to  make  might  increase  the  num- 
ber of  His  followers,  but  would  compass  the  destruc- 
tion of  them  all;  while  to  declare  boldly  every  jot 
and  tittle  of  the  message  entrusted  to  Him  might 
diminish  the  band  of  disciples,  but  would  redound 
to  their  eternal  redemption.  How  could  He  hesitate 
for  a  moment?  It  is  left  for  us  to  adopt  a  short- 
sighted as  well  as  a  false  policy  that  ends  in  damna- 
tion to  all  whom  it  would  embrace  ;  but  Jesus  Christ, 
building  for  all  time,  discloses  without  modification 
the  truth  in  its  fulness.  Having  given  utterance  to 
it,  as  He  anticipated,  many  deserted  Him.  And  as 
He  beheld  some  recklessly  casting  away  the  bread 
and  water  of  life,  and  others  showing  a  tendency  to 
give  up  the  pursuit  of  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  in 
broken  accents  He  turned  to  the  twelve  and  said, 
"Will  ye  also  go  away?"  Surely  that  half-sup- 
pressed lamentation  gives  us  a  hint  of  how  much  in 
this  instance  His  faithfulness  must  have  cost  Him. 

Dear  reader,  if,  amid  the  false  lights  of  this  world, 
where  a  flattering  tongue  and  a  lying  lip  are  ever- 
more charged  with  some  ulterior  selfish  purpose  in  all 
their  smooth  and  subtle  compliments,  you  feel  the  need 
of  a  faithful  friend,  come  to  Jesus.    He  will  give  you 


Christ  as  a  Friend. 


93 


no  self-satisfying,  and,  therefore,  no  self-destructive, 
view  of  your  condition.  With  a  relentless  applica- 
tion of  the  law,  He  will  uncover  all  disguises  and  dis- 
close your  exceeding  sinfulness  ;  with  an  unquench- 
able zealousy  for  the  administration  of  divine  justice, 
He  will  pronounce  against  your  guilt  the  severest 
penalties,  and  with  an  unerring  insight  into  your 
spiritual  constitution  He  will  declare  your  utter  help- 
lessness. He  may  be  gazing  upon  you  with  the  fond 
but  melancholy  glance,  jrearning  to  gather  you  be- 
neath His  covert  of  righteousness  against  the  evil  day, 
with  which  he  lingered  over  Jerusalem  when  He 
left  her  to  her  doom  ;  but,  as  in  that  case,  so  in  all 
others,  He  will  not  flinch  from  laying  bare  the  sterner 
aspects  of  God's  will.  It  is  only  thus  that  He  can 
prepare  you  to  revel  in  his  subsequent  disclosures 
of  the  unsearchable  riches  of  His  grace,  when  He 
unbosoms  Himself  to  you  as  a  Saviour.  Never  can 
you  fathom  the  depths  of  His  heart — "  never  can  you 
know  the  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge  " — 
until  you  know  to  its  fullest  extent  the  pit  of  sin, 
guilt  and  helplessness  sunk  into  your  own  soul. 

III.  Another  passage  in  the  book  of  Proverbs 
descriptive  of  a  friend  is  very  suggestive.  "  Iron 
sharpeneth  iron,  so  a  man  sharpeneth  the  counte- 
nance of  his  friend."  When  you  rub  two  pieces  of 
this  metal  together  the  result  of  such  friction  is  to 
brighten  and  polish  them.  So  the  intercourse  of  a 
friend  with  the  object  of  his  devotion  should  be  to 
them  a  source  of  cheerful  and  hopeful  views  of  life. 
This  chimes  in  with  another  passage  of  similar  irn- 


94 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


port:  "  Ointment  and  perfume  rejoice  the  heart,  so 
doth  the  sweetness  of  a  man's  friend  by  hearty  coun- 
sel." According  to  these  sentiments  Job's  friends 
missed  their  calling  altogether.  No  one  can  question 
their  benevolent  intentions.  They  evidently  lav- 
ished upon  him  all  their  treasures  of  time  and  wis- 
dom, endeavoring  to  lead  him  to  the  light.  But  they 
only  casta  heavier  pall  about  him.  Their  descend- 
ants have  become  more  numerous  with  the  lapse  of 
ages.  How  many  large-hearted  persons  to-day  flock 
about  you,  earnestly  desiring  to  be  of  some  practical 
service;  but  alas!  their  temperament  or  their  theory 
of  life  is  altogether  against  it.  Those  sour-visaged 
friends  who  are  anxious  to  sacrifice  their  melancholy 
feelings  that  they  may  bring  solace  to  those  who 
know  not  the  inexpressible  comfort  of  drinking  the 
bitterest  dregs  of  the  cup — how  easily  we  could  dis- 
pense with  their  generosity  !  Instead  of  making  some 
rift  in  the  cloud  they  only  thicken  its  folds. 

Now  Jesus,  as  a  friend,  is  always  inspiring.  Though, 
in  the  discharge  of  His  office  as  a  faithful  friend,  He 
might  temporarily  leave  you  in  darkness,  it  is  only 
that  you  may  be  ready  to  "  look  to  the  hills  whence 
cometh  your  help."  He  came  upon  the  world  of  sin- 
ners when  it  was  in  its  extremity  of  despair.  One 
can  easily  conceive  the  wide-spread  hopelessness  con- 
cerning the  betterment  of  the  race  and  the  issues  of 
the  world  to  come,  that  rested  like  a  blighting  frost 
upon  the  people  of  that  day.  This  dreary  outlook 
was  not  confined  to  the  heathen.  Many  Jews  par- 
took of  the  same  spirit.    What  else  could  be  expected 


Christ  as  a  Friend. 


95 


with  a  leadership  of  such  a  hypocritical  character  in 
religious  matters?  Eternity  alone  will  reveal  how 
many  souls  were  kept  out  of  the  kingdom  of  God  by 
the  Pharisees  with  their  exaltation  of  the  works  of 
the  law  as  the  only  means  of  salvation,  with  their 
assumption  of  a  sanctimonious  air  to  cover  their  wolf- 
ish hearts,  and  with  their  imposition  of  burdens  upon 
others  they  would  not  themselves  tolerate.  It  is  easy 
to  believe  that  among  the  Jews  there  were  some  hon- 
est and  sincere  persons,  who,  having  tried  to  imitate 
their  false  leaders,  soon  realized  the  emptiness  of 
such  a  course,  felt  a  contempt  for  their  teachings  and 
practices,  and  at  last  surrendered  all  expectation  of 
doing  any  better.  Who  knows  but  that  at  some 
period  of  their  past  lives  many  of  the  so-called  publi- 
cans and  sinners  were  respectably  religious  according 
to  the  standard  of  the  day,  but  afterwards,  gaining 
no  spiritual  satisfaction,  and  finding  they  had  been 
deluded,  gave  up  attempting  a  life  of  virtue,  and 
abandoned  themselves  to  extravagant  indulgence  in 
sin.  This  is  not  the  only  age  in  which  there  has 
been  whited  sepulchres  filling  up  the  church  of  the 
living  God,  and,  by  their  stench  in  the  nostrils  of 
decent  men  of  the  world,  repelling  them  from  His 
sanctuary  and  even  from  His  kingdom.  To  all  such 
wearied  and  despondent  souls,  who  can  doubt  that 
the  words  of  Jesus  came  as  an  inspiration,  quicken- 
ing their  consciences  and  reviving  their  moral  pur- 
poses, as  He  told  them  of  the  righteousness  that 
comes  "  by  faith  and  not  by  works,"  of  the  Father 
who  desired  "  mercy  rather  than  sacrifice,"  of  the 


96  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


"  life  and  immortality  brought  to  light "  through 
His  gospel?  Perhaps  many  such  were  in  His  audi- 
ence that  day  when  He  cried,  in  tones  of  entreaty, 
such  as  could  issue  only  from  the  Son  of  Man,  "  Come  ' 
unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden  and 
I  will  give  you  rest."  It  is  a  beautiful  suggestion  of 
a  commentator  that  the  scene  in  the  house  of  Simon 
the  Pharisee  must  have  followed  this  discourse,  and 
that  the  notorious  woman  who  lavished  her  devotion 
upon  Jesus  must  have  obtained  her  hope  of  eternal 
life  through  this  message. 

Dear  unbeliever,  perhaps  amid  your  futile  search 
after  some  solution  to  your  doubts,  you  are  ready  to 
sink  down  into  the  apathy  of  a  confirmed  agnostic- 
Let  me  plead  with  you  before  pursuing  such  a  fatal 
course,  to  cast  yourself  unreservedly  upon  the  friend- 
ship of  Jesus.  He  will  not  mock  you  by  forcing 
upon  you  legal  responsibilites  you  cannot  discharge ; 
nor  will  He  discourage  you  by  sending  you  back  to 
fathom  all  the  mysteries  of  revelation ;  nor  will  He 
degrade  you  by  commanding  you  to  entrust  yourself 
blindly  to  the  authoritative  dictum  of  any  ecclesias- 
tical body.  You  remember  how  He  dealt  with  the 
impotent  man  at  the  pool  of  Bethesda.  The  poor 
wretch  had  probably  lost  the  opportunity  of  being 
healed  so  often  that  finally  the  desire,  which  had 
been  originally  keen  and  vigorous,  had  become 
deadened,  so  that  Jesus  had  to  quicken  it  by  the 
inspiration  of  His  looks  and  words.  Then  instantly, 
the  man's  eagerness  being  restored  at  the  command, 
He  gave  him  a  fresh  infusion  of  vitality,  and  his 


Christ  as  a  Friend. 


97 


wasted  limbs  became  active  once  ^more.  Oh !  that 
you,  too,  would  listen  with  all  the  yearning  of  a  dying 
man  to  His  reviving  tones.  Says  He,  "  The]Swords 
that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are 
life."  Close  your  ears  to  all  the  deafening  clatter  of 
this  world's  wisdom,  whether  within  or  without  the 
church,  and  hang  with  breathless  expectancy  upon 
the  voice  of  Jesus. 

"  I  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus  say — 
'  Behold,  I  freely  give 
The  living  water;  thirsty  one 

Stoop  down  and  drink,  and  live!' 

I  came  to  Jesus,  and  I  drank 

Of  that  life-giving  stream; 
My  thirst  was  quenched,  my  soul  revived,. 

And  now  I  live  in  Him!  " 

And  now,  dear  reader,  before  parting,  may  this 
thought  break  upon  your  conscience  with  a  force 
never  felt  before:  "Christ's  friendship  for  you  was 
sealed  by  the  shedding  of  his  blood."  Not  by  some 
slight  token,  which,  however  precious,  has  cost,  per- 
haps, the  sweat  of  the  brow,  but  by  a  gift  that  wrung 
from  Him,  as  he  resolutely  set  it  apart  for  you,  the 
sweat  of  blood.  Our  Saviour,  measuring  the  height 
of  human  self-sacrifice,  said:  "Greater  love  hath  no 
man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his 
friend."  Afterwards  the  Apostle,  rising  upon  this  as 
a  base,  with  a  triumphant  tone  sublimely  exclaims : 
"But  God  commendeth  his  love  towards  us  in  that 
while  we  were  yet  sinners  [i.  e.y  enemies]  Christ  died 
for  us."  Yes,  Christ's  friendship  for  the  sinner  began 
7 


98 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


wholly  upon  His  side,  and  so  it  continues  to  be  alto- 
gether upon  His  side,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  even 
until  this  hour.  Are  you  so  rich  in  possessions  for 
the  life  that  now  is  and  in  promises  for  the  life  that 
is  to  come  that  you  can  afford  to  spurn  a  friendship 
bestowed  so  freely  and  sealed  so  securely?  May  the 
time  never  come  when  He,  who  now  knocks  for  ad- 
mittance as  your  friend,  because  of  His  rejection  at 
your  door  shall  turn  to  be  your  enemy !  "  Bat  they 
rebelled,  and  vexed  his  Holy  Spirit;  therefore  he 
was  turned  to  be  their  enemy  and  fought  against 
them."    Isaiah  lxiii :  10. 


THE  ATONEMENT. 

By  Rev.  Joshua  Brockett,  D.  D., 

Of  the  A.  M.  Church,  and  Professor  in  Colored  State  Normal  School  at 
Warrenton,  N.  C. 


"  And  all  things  are  of  God  who  hath  reconciled  us  to  himself  by 
Ohrist  Jesus."— II  Cor.  v:  18. 

Man  through  sin  wandered  away  from  and  lost 
the  true  knowledge  of  God.  He  could  not,  because 
of  sin,  approach — and  it  was  equally  impossible  for 
God  in  His  supreme  divinity  to  draw  near  to  man 
without  destroying  him  with  the  brightness  of  divine 
glory.  The  whole  mental  and  spiritual  organism  of 
man  was  deranged  by  sin.  His  temperament  was 
distorted  and  warped.  His  sympathies  were  void  of 
life.  Upon  his  affections  rested  the  blight  of  death. 
Man  hated  life  and  sought  death's  shade  because  his 


The  Atonement. 


99 


deeds  were  evil.  Being  no  longer  controlled  by  the 
nobler  powers  of  the  seul,  he  became  the  abject  slave 
of  carnal  sense  —  nature's  sinful  passions  reigned 
supreme.  The  brightness  of  the  Creator's  presence 
that  attended  man's  sinless  state  could  be  no  longer 
seen,  but  instead  the  cold,  cheerless  shadows  of 
death's  rayless  night  crept  on  apace.  Dense  igno- 
rance like  a  pall  enveloped  the  mind,  superstition 
mystified  the  soul. 

Man — lost,  guilty,  wretched  being — soul  and  spirit, 
was  enwrapt  in  the  winding-sheet  of  death  !  The 
loving  Father  called  to  him,  bidding  him,  "Man^ 
turn  from  sin  and  live."  In  numberless  ways  he 
tried  to  win  him  back,  but  man  closed  his  ears  to 
the  call,  refused  to  heed.  Divine  councils  were  dis- 
regarded; infinite  love  was  scorned;  messages  were 
spurned ;  messengers  were  stoned  and  put  to  death. 
Deep  upon  deep  of  hell's  awful  state  awaited  the 
soul's  swift  approach.  Fiend  and  demon  wrought 
what  seemed  to  be  the  eternal  destruction  of  human- 
ity. The  burden  of  prophecy  was  stilled;  the  church 
of  the  prophet?,  so  far  as  its  real  work  was  concerned, 
had  reached  its  end.  A  cloud  of  sinful  gloom  over- 
shadowed the  earth,  and  dark  despair  sat  in  black- 
ness throned  within  the  human  soul.  Hope,  in  ter- 
ror, fled  to  its  refuge  in  the  bosom  of  God,  while 
dark  forebodings,  like  vultures  with  heavy  wings, 
hovered  o'er  the  dreary  wastes  of  the  damned. 

Then  it  was  when  the  world  became  a  pit  of  degra- 
dation, and  man  like  the  foul  beast  of  the  grave, 
skulked  amid  the  ruin  and  desolation  of  his  own, 


100 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


like  a  shaft  of  holy  fire  lighting  for  a  brief  space  the 
gloom.  The  voice  of  the  herald  of  Jordan  startled 
the  lethargic  ears  of  the  Judean  world  with  the 
trumpet  command,  "  Repent  ye,  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand."  Swiftly  following  which  came 
the  declaration  that  one  mightier  than  he  should 
come  to  take  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 

The  fullness  of  time  was  come.  The  Lord  Jesus 
appeared  as  Jehovah  God  manifested  in  the  flesh.  He 
came  to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself;  He 
came  to  bring  life  and  immortality  to  man  by  the 
light  of  His  life  —  the  Gospel.  He  assumed  our 
nature  with  all  its  imperfections  and  liability  to 
temptation.  He  was  exposed  to  every  form  of  satanic 
cunning  and  scheme.  All  the  enemies  of  humanity 
and  every  variety  of  sin  marshalled  their  malignant 
forces  against  Him.  Because  God  in  His  assumed 
humanity  conquered  all  the  enemies  of  mankind, 
we  sing,  "  Jesus  paid  it  all."  Or  paid  the  debt  and 
made  me  free. 

But  just  here  permit  me  to  say,  Christ  did  not 
come  to  pay  a  debt,  but  to  conquer  man's  enemies.  He 
came  to  conquer  death,  to  subdue  the  power  of  the 
grave,  not  to  suffer  the  wrath  of  the  Father.  He  came 
to  fulfill  every  part  of  the  law,  not  to  suffer  the  pen- 
alty of  its  violation.  This  could  not  be  done  with- 
out the  assumption  of  our  nature.  Hence  the  neces- 
sity of  the  Incarnation.  As  God  could  not  draw 
near  to  man  in  his  (man's)  simple  state,  and  man 
could  not  draw  nearer  to  God,  it  was  necessary  that 


The  Atonement. 


101 


there  should  be  an  atonement  and  a  mediator  that 
man  might  be  saved. 

The  primary  meaning  of  the  word  atonement,  as 
one  can  readily  see  by  its  division,  is  at-one-ment, 
to  be  reconciled  or  in  agreement  with  God.  In  that 
agreement  lies  the  condition  of  man's  salvation. 
Thus  by  Christ's  perfect  work  for  man,  by  which  the 
violated  law  was  fulfilled,  He  did  not  make  a  penal 
sacrifice  to  appease  the  alleged  wrath  of  God,  to  sat- 
isfy divine  justice,  or  to  purchase  God's  favor  for 
man. 

Of  what,  therefore,  does  the  atonement  properly 
consist? 

The  first  act  of  God  in  the  work  of  atonement  was 
the  assumption  of  our  human  nature — the  manifes- 
tation of  Himself  to  the  world  in  a  material  body 
like  our  own.  God  assumed  the  corrupt  nature  of 
man  in  the  fullest,  broadest  and  deepest  sense  of  the 
term.  He  was,  as  a  man,  tempted  in  all  ways,  yet 
He  sinned  not.  The  effect  of  our  sin  He  bore.  The 
anguish  attendant  upon  human  sorrow  He  endured, 
hungering  as  we  hunger,  weeping  as  we  weep — 
amazing  paradox  of  heaven!  Positively  human, 
absolutely  divine. 

Thus,  in  holy  but  solemn  ecstacy  sings  the  poet: 

"  The  Son  of  God  in  tears  the  wondering  angels  see. 
Be  thou  astonished,  O,  my  soul, 
He  shed  those  tears  for  thee." 

The  sun  rose  and  set  upon  His  daily  labor  of  lov- 
ing beneficence.  His  compassion  sprang  to  the 
rescue  of  the  fallen. 


102  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


As  a  cleansing  font  His  virtue  healed  the  sick ;  His 
omnipotence  bade  the  lame  walk,  the  blind  eye  to 
behold  the  myriad  and  varicolored  beauties  of  earth 
and  sky,  and  worship  their  Maker;  by  command 
thrilling  the  souls  of  the  deaf  with  unutterable  joy, 
as  all  God's  feathered  orchestra  on  hill  and  in  valley, 
for  the  first  time,  poured  forth  their  carols  of  praise, 
anthems  of  joy  through  ear,  heart  and  soul. 

His  creative  power  revoked  the  dread  decree  of 
death,  vetoed  the  stern  law  of  the  grave — matchless 
before  heaven's  hosts,  appalling  to  hell's  spirits,  He 
stood  at  the  grave  where  lay  His  friend.  Like  a 
trumpet,  shaking  Death  on  his  sable  throne,  rolling 
along  the  corridors,  penetrating  the  galleries  and 
searching  the  archives  of  the  dead  went  His  voice 
in  command,  bidding  the  spirit  return  and  the  body 
come  forth. 

Down  from  its  exalted  state,  back  from  the  emer- 
ald shores  of  paradise,  in  obedience  to  the  command 
of  its  Lord,  came  the  soul  of  the  dead  to  be  once 
again  environed  by  the  thrall  of  finitude. 

Again :  In  His  work  of  atonement  hell  witnessed, 
and  only  heaven  and  Himself  knows,  the  gloomy 
horrors  attendant  upon  the  forty  days  fast  in  the 
Judean  desert.  The  midnight  dews  fell  upon  His 
locks,  and  the  winds  of  heaven  caressed  His  brow 
as  He  prayed  on  Olivet.  Angel  and  demon  stood 
aghast  at  the  sight  of  praying  and  bleeding  agon}7 
in  Gethsemane's  lonely  vale.  He  who  sat  in  glory 
throned  in  the  first  eternity  and  spake  the  world 
into  existence,  framing  laws  past  human  ken  for  its 


The  Atonement. 


103 


control,  there  presents  the  fearful  sight  of  the  weep- 
ing suppliant  pleading  for  human  sympathy. 

On  that  struggle  between  light  and  darkness 
depended  man's  eternal  destiny.  Turning  from  his 
wearied  and  slumbering  disciples,  once  again  he  girt 
up  his  soul  for  the  final  struggle.  About  Him  the 
night  winds  were  stilled,  as  though  Nature  held  its 
breath  in  suspense  doubtful  of  the  issue  between  the 
contending  powers.  Above  his  head  a  starless  sky 
bent  its  black  vault  in  fearful  concave.  Affrighted 
fowls  sought  distant  retreats.  The  scene  was  all  dark, 
save  the  angry  light  of  the  lightning's  flash,  which 
ever  and  anon,  like  a  red  rapier,  cut  ragged  paths 
across  the  black  canopy  on  high.  The  booming  of 
distant  thunder  broke  the  silence  and  rolled  along 
the  crests  of  Bashan's  hills  until  hushed  b}r  its  own 
majestic  lullaby.  Amid  such  surroundings  your 
Saviour  prostrated  Himself,  while  the  groans  result- 
nt  from  that  awful  struggle  burst  from  His  bosom 
and  echoed  ihrough  the  lonely  vale,  until  carnal 
power  in  Him  gave  up  the  struggle  and  cried  aloud, 
"  Not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done."  That  night 
heaven  rejoiced.  The  angel  of  mercy  threw  wide  the 
gates  of  redemption.  Disguises  longer  rendered  use- 
less, in  a  whirlwind  of  hell-fury  Satan  descend  to 
quaking  hosts  and  a  tottering  throne.  Therein  lay 
humanity's  atonement  and  redemption  through  the 
overcoming,  by  His  humanity,  of  all  the  temptations 
to  which  it  was  exposed,  by  subduing  in  it  every  lust 
and  evil  passion. 


104 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


Again,  by  that  perfect  work,  Christ  lifted  His,  and 
with  His  our  humanity  from  its  state  of  degradation 
into  a  progressive  conjunction  with  the  divine  nature 
of  the  Father. 

The  last  of  the  Saviour's  temptations  was  in  the 
passion  of  Gethsemane.  While  between  the  confines 
of  life  and  death,  His  last  love-offering  for  man  was 
the  gift  of  His  humanity  on  the  world's  sacrificial 
altar — Calvary.  His  final  victory  was  His  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead.  Sin  begets  and  is  death's  parent. 
Death  makes  possible  hell.  Hence,  by  His  subjuga- 
tion of  sin  death  was  deprived  of  its  sting  or  power 
over  humanity. 

Thus  His  humanity  was  eternally  glorified,  and 
all  humanity  was  lifted  whence  it  had  fallen — the 
human  was  as  one  wTith  the  divine.  Again  it  became 
possible  for  God  to  sway  the  human  will  by  the 
divine,  to  restore  distorted  temperaments  to  their 
original  state,  and  to  cleanse  the  affections  from  the 
pollution  of  carnal  senses. 

United  in  the  prosecution  of  their  work  is  the 
loving  divinity  of  the  Father  and  the  untiring  devo- 
tion of  the  Son. 

Arising  from  this  conjunction  of  Father  and  Son 
is  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  shall  forever  abide  with  us 
in  the  right,  instructing  and  leading  us  into  bound- 
less fields  of  heavenly  wisdom.  Into  this  blessed 
state  all  the  millions  of  earth  may  come  and  be  at 
peace  with  God  through  the  atonement  of  the  Son. 
Here  no  frowning  Sinai  with  forbidding  heights  im- 
pedes our  path — no  thunders  of  exacting  justice  bel- 
low to  affright  the  ransomed  soul.    Deep,  lasting, 


On  the  Nature  of  Faith.  105 

unending  peace  abides,  a  benediction  over  all.  Per- 
fect joy  accompanies  the  Christian  thenceforward, 
and,  as  they  one  by  one  approach  life's  end,  death's 
shadows  resolve  themselves  into  fleeting  vapors. 
And  the  matchless  love  displayed  in  the  atonement 
completes  itself  in  glory  upon  glory,  splendor  upon 
splendor,  and  majesty  upon  majesty  of  the  perfected 
at-one-ment  of  redeemed  and  Redeemer  in  the  un- 
clouded realm  of  light  in  the  great  beyond. 


ON  THE  NATURE  OF  FAITH. 

By  Rev.  J.  E.  Bristowe, 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  (M.  E.  C,  S.). 

"  And  the  apostles  said  unto  the  Lord,  increase  our  faith. 

"And  the  Lord  said,  if  ye  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye 
might  say  unto  this  sycamine  tree,  Be  thou  plucked  up  by  the  root, 
and  be  thou  planted  in  the  sea;  and  it  should  obey  you."— Luke 
xvii :  5,  6. 

Perhaps  no  word  in  Christian  theology,  and  in  ail 
religious  books,  finds  a  place  so  prominent  as  this  lit- 
tle word  faith.  In  conversation  on  the  great  ques- 
tion of  personal  salvation,  for  ages  this  word  faith 
has  been  used  to  express  the  condition  of  our  reach- 
ing heaven.  It  is  the  keystone  which  binds  the 
arch  that  bridges  the  chasm  opened  by  sin  between 
God  and  the  sinner.  To  my  mind,  its  true  nature 
is  not  understood  by  many  who  use  it  in  answer  to 
the  question,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?" 

If  none  can  be  saved  without  faith,  it  is  important 
that,  if  possible,  it  should  be  so  clearly  defined  that 
every  soul,  to  be  saved  by  it,  should  understand  it. 


106  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


In  hope  of  throwing  some 'light  on  this  all-impor- 
tant question  I  feel  called  upon  to  cast  in  my  mite, 
in  the  name  of  my  Redeemer  and  Deliverer. 

Jesus  our  Lord  was  and  still  is  unwilling  that  any 
who  come  to  Him  for  information  should  go  away 
ignorant  of  the  nature  of  spiritual  growth  and  the 
laws  which  govern  it,  hence  He  opens  the  wTay  to  make 
room  for  the  lesson  by  saying,  "Take  heed  to  your- 
selves: If  thy  brother  trespass  against  thee,  rebuke 
him ;  and  if  he  repent,  forgive  him.  And  if  he  tres- 
pass against  thee  seven  times  in  a  day,  and  seven 
times  in  a  day  turn  again  to  thee,  saying,  I  repent; 
thou  shalt  forgive  him."  Notice  here  that  uninten- 
tional trespass  is  sanctified.  Some  one  has  expressed 
in  these  lines  a  great  truth  that  should  be  remem- 
bered : 

"Time  to  me  this  truth  hath  taught, 
Tis  a  truth  that's  worth  revealing, 
That  more  offend  for  want  of  thought 
Than  from  any  want  of  feeling." 

The  disciples,  no  doubt,  had  an  idea  that  under  cer- 
tain conditions  they  ought  to  forgive  an  offence,  but 
here  Jesus  enjoins  it  to  an  extent  unheard  of  before, 
and  it  staggered  their  faith  as  they  thought,  and  they 
said  unto  the  Lord,  "  increase  our  faith." 

Let  us  notice,  then,  carefully — 

First.  The  apostles'  prayer. 

Second.  The  Lord's  answer;  and, 

Third.  Draw  some  inferences  which  may  be  of  ser- 
vice to  us  all. 


On  the  Nature  of  Faith.  107 


The  prayer :  "  Increase  our  faith." 

We  are  perhaps  too  ready  to  believe  the  apostles 
above  mistake,  and  never  question  the  propriety  of 
anything  they  did  (Judas  excepted).  They  had  a 
false  view  of  Messiah  and  His  kingdom,  which  laid 
the  foundation  out  of  which  grew  a  multitude  of 
errors.  Here,  in  their  prayer,  they  showed  an 
erroneous  conception  of  faith.  They  regarded  faith 
as  a  necessary  power,  in  the  sense  of  money  deposited 
in  bank  to  their  credit,  which  could  be  drawn  out  at 
pleasure  to  meet  the  emergencies  of  life. 

To  illustrate  the  idea:  I  have  ten  millions  of  dol- 
lars on  deposit  in  some  solvent  bank  subject  to  my 
order.  I  feel  that  I  can  run  an  extensive  business, 
but  if  I  have  no  surplus  money  I  feel  that  my  ability 
to  do  business  is  narrowly  limited.  This  was  their 
error.  It  may  be  ours.  They  had  not  as  yet  fully 
understood  the  real  nature  of  saving  faith.  How 
many  thousands  of  Christians  to-day  are  laboring 
under  the  same  mistake?  How  many  are  ready  to 
say,  if  I  had  as  much  faith  as  Abraham,  then  I 
would  do  the  works  of  Abraham;  or  had  I  as  much 
faith  as  Moses  and  Joshua,  I  would  lead  the  church 
out  of  the  wilderness,  storm  Jericho  with  a  shout  and 
put  an  end  to  all  wickedness.  Jesus  saw  their  mis- 
take and  endeavored  to  correct  it  without  discount- 
ing their  devotion  to  right.  In  His  answer  to  their 
prayer,  the  most  lucid  and  luminous  definition  and 
application  is  given  perhaps  to  be  found  anywhere  in 
the  whole  Bible,  with  an  illustration  to  impress  it, 
which  is  the  next  thing  to  consider. 


108  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


"If  ye  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye 
might  say  unto  this  sycamine  tree,  Be  thou  plucked 
up  by  the  root,  and  be  thou  planted  in  the  sea;  and 
it  should  obey  you."  If  ye  had  faith  as  a  grain  of 
mustard  seed  :  Notice,  no  reference  is  here  made  to 
the  insignificance  or  littleness  of  the  seed,  but  to  its 
nature.  In  it  is  the  life  principle,  a  germ  of  prog- 
ress when  submitted  to  certain  conditions.  For  in- 
stance, at  the  proper  season  put  it  in  the  moist  earth, 
and  under  the  genial  influence  of  the  sun  the  hard 
case  becomes  soft  and  opens,  the  life  principle  be- 
comes active,  progress  begins,  and  from  this  smallest 
of  seeds  comes  the  greatest  of  herbs.  Thus,  by  co- 
operation with  God  in  Nature  an  apparent  impossi- 
bility becomes  a  glorious  reality.  Place  this  won- 
derful seed  upon  the  tin-roof  and  leave  it  there,  and 
it  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  the  life  principle  is 
gone  and  gone  forever.  The  sun  is  the  savor  of  life 
unto  life,  or  death  unto  death  Everything  depends 
upon  meeting  all  the  conditions. 

Now,  then,  faith  of  the  same  nature,  containing 
the  life  principle,  submitted  to  the  field  of  action, 
under  the  mellowing  rays  of  the  sun  of  righteous- 
ness progress  in  divine  life  begins.  Idols  fall  and 
are  broken,  and  many  wonderful  results,  otherwise 
impossible,  are  accomplished. 

If  we  had  this  faith  we  might  say  to  this  sycamine 
tree  of  sin  in  every  form,  to  these  doubts  and  fears 
that  so  often  trouble  us,  "Be  thou  plucked  up,  root 
and  all,  and  be  thou  planted  in  the  sea,"  and  it  would 
obey  us. 


On  the  Nature  of  Faith.  109 

J  . 
This  is  a  proverbial  saying  used  in  several  instances 

in  the  Bible  to  denote  things  very  difficult  to  be 
done,  or  apparently  impossible.  But  from  the  fact  that 
we  know  that  seeds  will  germinate,  we  would  be  about 
as  ready  to  doubt  the  possibility  of  the  one  as  the 
other,  and  would  call  either  a  miracle. 

From  these  facts  we  draw  the  following  conclu- 
sions : 

1.  That  faith  is  a  living,  active  principle,  joined 
together  with  works  by  God  himself,  and  although 
almost  every  man,  living  or  dead,  has  exhausted 
his  strength  and  skill  to  secure  their  divorce,  yet 
failure  has  crowned  his  every  effort.  They  were 
born  together;  they  live  together;  die  together — are 
buried  in  the  same  grave  and  one  slab  marks  their 
last  resting-place.  Faith  and  works  sustain  the  same 
relation  to  each  other  as  the  body  and  spirit,  so  far 
as  this  world  is  concerned. 

2.  We  learn  that  our  necessity  is  not  so  much  a 
want  of  faith,  as  a  disposition  or  will  to  use  what 
we  have  already.  It  is  in  the  use  of  means  that 
gain  is  made.  Faith,  like  money,  can  be  of  no  ser- 
vice (substantially)  unless  used. 

3.  Whosoever  believeth  that  there  is  a  God,  and 
that  He  is  a  rewarder  of  all  who  diligently  seek 
Him,  whether  in  the  church  or  out  of  the  church, 
converted  or  unconverted,  has  faith  enough  to  start 
with.  If  he  will  begin  now  to  use  it  as  God  directs, 
and  continue  to  use  it  all  through  life,  it  will  take 
him  safe  to  heaven.  Like  any  other  infant  it  will 
grow  and  develop  only  by  exercise. 


110 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


God  will  not  burden  us  with  a  useless  supply.  We 
have  more  than  we  use  now,  and  all  that  we 
need.  More  could  be  of  no  service  until  we  have 
used  the  supply  already  on  hand.  "  To  him  that 
hath  shall  be  given,"  etc.  Take  a  lighted  lantern 
out  into  the  darkness  (as  we  have  the  Bible  in  this 
dark  world).  Its  light  disperses  the  darkness  on 
every  side  for  a  distance  of  ten  to  twenty  feet,  so  that 
we  may  discover  the  way  and  any  danger  and  shun 
it  as  easily  and  as  effectually  as  in  day-light  (so  the 
Bible  is  a  lamp  lighted  by  the  spirit  disclosing  all 
the  dangers  lying  close  at  hand  and  points  out  the 
way  of  escape  to  every  honest  inquirer).  The  lamp 
reveals  any  beauty  that  may  chance  to  smile  within 
its  compass,  and  thus  breaks  the  monotony  of  things 
and  imparts  the  needed  inspiration  and  courage  to 
the  weary  traveler.  (So  God's  word  reveals  the  beau- 
ties of  holiness,  and  an  occasional  glimpse  of  the 
heavenly  city,  and  the  joys  of  the  Redeemer.)  But 
if  we  do  not  take  hold  of  the  lantern  and  move,  the 
hideous  disclosures,  as  well  as  the  beauties,  soon 
lose  their  power  to  affect  us  in  any  way,  either  to 
frighten  or  inspire.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Bible 
reader  unless  he  moves  forward  with  the  light. 
There  are  mysteries  in  the  dark  that  never  can  be 
solved  but  in  the  light.  To  bring  the  light  to  bear 
upon  them,  it  must  be  carried  to  them.  Move  for- 
ward and  the  mysteries  will  solve  themselves.  Only 
those  things  are  mysterious  to  us  of  which  we  are 
ignorant.  We  solve  the  mystery  of  the  germination 
of  seeds  in  God's  way.    The  wonders  of  faith  can  be 


On  the  Nature  of  Faith. 


Ill 


solved  in  no  other.  "  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth, 
that  shall  he  also  reap."  The  same  in  kind,  with 
increase. 

Reader,  are  you  sowing  in  faith,  walking  in  its 
light  every  day,  in  your  home,  in  your  business  ;  are 
you  living  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible?  Sowing 
in  time  seeds  of  active  faith  which  will  produce  fruits 
of  eternal  life?  What  we  do  must  be  done  quickly. 
If  we  have  already  wasted  much  time,  so  much 
greater  the  necessity  to  begin  this  moment  and  per- 
severe unto  the  end.  0  how  sad  the  state  of  him 
who  has  been  idle  for  eleven  hours  of  the  day,  only 
one  hour  left  in  which  to  do  the  work  of  twelve ! 

Thank  God,  sinner,  you  need  not  despair;  you 
may  yet,  by  God's  help,  make  sure  your  peace,  call- 
ing and  election.  Jesus  invites  you  now,  the  eleventh 
hour.  Escape  for  thy  life,  look  not  behind  thee, 
neither  stay  thou  in  all  the  plains.  The  last  hour  is 
passing.  Soon  it  will  be  said,  u  Let  him  alone,"  or 
"  Come  ye  blessed  of  my  father." 

Now,  sinner,  what  will  you  do?  Decide  at  once. 
Will  you  begin  now  to  use  all  the  light  that  God  has 
so  graciously  given,  or  will  you  decide  to  wait  until 
a  more  convenient  season,  and  thus  suffer  yourself 
to  be  deceived,  as  in  the  past,  until  the  last  opportu- 
nity is  forever  gone.    Decide  now. 

"  Nay,  but  I  yield,  I  yield, 
I  can  hold  out  no  more. 
I  sink  by  dying  love  compelled 
And  own  thee  conqueror." 


112  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


And  pray  with  all  thy  heart. 

"  Help  me  to  watch  and  pray 
And  on  thyself  rely, 
Assured  if  I  my  trust  betray 
I  shall  forever  die." 

May  we  thus,  in  God's  own  way,  increase  our  faith 
as  we  have  need. 


THE  DIVINE  INSPIRATION  OF  THE  HOLY 
SCRIPTURES. 
By  Rev.  Solomon  Pool,  D.  D., 

Of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  (M.  E.  C,  S.). 
"All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God.''— II  Timothy  iii:  18. 

If  the  text  is  true,  the  Scriptures  are  divinely  in- 
spired ;  if  the  Scriptures  are  divinely  inspired,  the 
text  is  true.  The  standard  authors  offer  many  con- 
vincing proofs  of  the  truth  that  the  Bible  is  inspired 
of  God,  and  the  most  cultivated  and  enlightened  of 
our  race  have  accepted  this  truth ;  it  therefore  remains 
for  its  opponents  to  disprove  it.  This  they  have 
never  done,  and  can  never  do.  If  the  text  be  untrue, 
then  there  has  been,  and  still  is,  practiced  upon  the 
world  a  prodigious  fraud  ;  and  that  upon  the  most 
astute  and  profound  intellects  of  our  race.  Our 
fathers  and  mothers  have  died  hugging  this  great 
delusion  to  their  bosoms.  If  the  Bible  be  a  cunningly 
devised  fable,  then  bad  men  and  devils  have  occa- 
sion for  joy ;  and  good  men  and  angels  for  sorrow. 


The  Divine  Inspiration,  etc.  113 


But  if  the  Bible  be  true,  then  we  have  here  the  most 
momentous  fact  in  the  universe.  The  Bible  is  either 
prodigiously  true  or  prodigiously  false. 

The  Bible  makes  short  work  with  the  atheist  ;  it 
simply  pronounces  him  a  fool  in  his  heart,  and  passes 
on.  The  text  is  a  reply  to  the  deist,  the  man  who 
admits  the  divine  existence,  but  discredits  the  divine 
revelation.  He  accepts  the  light  of  Nature,  but 
rejects  the  light  of  Scripture.  He  presents  the  para- 
dox of  being  the  most  credulous,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  the  most  incredulous  of  men.  He  believes 
what  is  unproved  and  unreasonable,  and  disbelieves 
what  is  proved  and  reasonable.  It  is  most  reasonable 
that  God  should  give  rational  man  a  direct  revela- 
tion ;  it  is  most  unreasonable  that  He  should  not. 
That  he  has  actually  done  so  has  been  proved  satis- 
factorily, and  is  admitted  by  the  wisest  and  best  of 
men.  It  is  accepted  as  a  fact  throughout  enlightened 
Christendom,  and  yet  here  and  there  an  infidel  lifts 
his  unholy  head  and  dissents.  He  will  attempt  to 
argue  that  Christianity  is  a  falsehood,  and,  on  the 
same  sheet,  will  date  his  production  anno  Domini 
1892.  He  rejects  the  Christian  theology,  while  he 
accepts  the  Christian  chronometry. 

The  suggestion  has  been  well  made  by  some  one 
that  the  Bible  must  have  been  the  work  of  the  devil,  or 
of  man,  or  of  God.  And  it  is  true  it  must  have  had 
its  origin  in  hell,  or  on  earth,  or  in  heaven.  If  not 
in  the  first,  nor  the  second,  then  in  the  third.  If  Satan 
did  not  inspire  it,  nor  bad  men,  nor  good  men,  then 
it  must  have  been  God-given,  heaven-sent,  divine. 
8 


114 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


I.  It  did  not  originate  with  Satan. 

Woald  the  arch  enemy  of  God  and  man  ever  have 
been  disposed  to  give  to  the  world  a  religion  so  benev- 
olent and  pure?  Would  he  ever  have  set  before  us 
such  a  perfect  code  of  morals?  Would  he  ever  have 
attached  such  hopes  to  virtue,  and  such  threats  to 
vice  ?  With  all  his  fiendish  malice  and  hatred  for 
God  would  he  ever  have  set  before  us  such  lofty 
descriptions  of  the  divine  nature?  Would  he  ever 
have  invested  heaven  with  such  glorious  attractions, 
and  painted  hell,  his  own  abode,  with  such  awful 
horrors,  and  thundered  against  himself  such  equita- 
ble denunciations? 

In  the  Scriptures  he  is  represented  as  the  adver- 
sary of  God  and  man.  Would  he  have  so  repre- 
sented himself?  Says  the  Bible,  "He  that  com- 
mitteth  sin  is  of  the  devil,  for  the  devil  sinneth  from 
the  beginning."  Would  he  thus  have  spoken  of 
himself?  Says  the  Bible,  "  Put  on  the  whole  armor 
of  God,  that  ye  may  be  able  to  stand  against  the 
wiles  of  the  devil."  "  Resist  the  devil  and  he  will 
flee  from  you."  "The  God  of  peace  shall  bruise 
Satan  under  your  feet."  "  He  laid  hold  on  the  dragon, 
that  old  serpent,  which  is  the  devil  and  Satan,  and 
bound  him  a  thousand  years,  and  cast  him  into  the 
bottomless  pit."  A  man  must  be  supremely  credulous 
who  can  believe  the  Bible  to  be  Satan-inspired. 

Says  the  text,  "All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspira- 
tion of  God;"  and  says  Peter,  "Holy  men  of  old 
spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  So 
the  Bible  seems  to  be  the  special  production  of  the 


The  Divine  Inspiration,  etc.  115 

Holy  Ghost,  the  third  person  in  the  God-head.  He 
who  attributes  this  work  to  Satan,  therefore,  may  be 
in  danger  of  that  unpardonable  sin,  which  has  no 
forgiveness,  either  in  this  world,  or  in  the  world  to 
come.  Who  dare  to  be  so  insane  as  to  believe,  or  so 
blasphemous  as  to  assert,  that  the  Bible  is  of  Satanic 
origin  ? 

II.    It  did  not  originate  with  Man. 

If  the  Bible  is  not  the  production  of  Satan,  then 
it  must  be  the  work  either  of  man  or  of  God.  If  it 
had  its  origin  with  man,  then  it  must  be  the  work 
either  of  bad  men,  or  of  good  men. 

1.  Is  the  Bible  the  production  of  bad  men  ?  Would 
bad  men  have  presented  to  the  world  and  have  pro- 
mulgated a  code  of  morals  so  sublime,  a  system  of 
ethics  so  perfect?  Would  they  have  so  extolled  the 
virtues,  and  denounced  the  vices  of  men  ?  Would 
bad  men  ever  have  framed  the  decalogue,  and  incul- 
cated love  to  God,  and  love  to  man,  and  set  forth 
the  pure  and  holy  principles  of  the  gospel?  Would 
they  have  inspired,  and  given  the  world  a  book 
whose  every  page  passes  condemnation  upon  them- 
selves? Says  Moses,  "Everyman  shall  be  put  to 
death  for  his  sins."  Says  Solomon,  "  Righteousness 
exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  peo- 
ple." Says  David,  "  Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh 
not  in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly,  nor  standeth  in 
the  way  of  sinners,  nor  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the 
scornful."  Says  Paul,  "  The  wages  of  sin  is  death." 
Says  John,  "  He  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the  devil." 
Says  the  Psalmist,  "  The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into 


116  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


hell,  and  all  the  nations  that  forget  God."  And 
again,  "  Upon  the  wicked  he  shall  rain  snares,  fire, 
and  brimstone,  and  an  horrible  tempest."  Would 
bad  men  have  devised  a  fable,  and  have  given  it  to 
the  world,  which  pronounces  such  curses  upon  them- 
selves? 

It  may  be  said  that  bad  men  would  have  written 
the  Bible,  if  thereby  the  results  could  be  beneficial 
to  themselves.  But  no  such  results  were  probable. 
On  the  contrary,  they  saw  before  them  only  persecu- 
tion, torture  and  death.  The  Bible  was  evidently 
not  produced  by  men  who  disbelieved  its  declara- 
tions. Men  will  often  labor  earnestly  to  induce  oth- 
ers to  agree  with  them  in  opinion,  but  do  they  labor, 
and  even  suffer,  to  induce  men  to  differ  from  them 
in  opinion  ?  If  the  Bible  be  a  human  production, 
it  is  certainly  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  it  was 
the  work  of  unbelievers.  Indeed,  it  has  always  been 
infidels  who  would  overthrow  the  Scriptures.  It  has 
been  believers  who  have  promulgated  them. 

No,  bad  men  would  never  have  given  the  Bible  to 
the  world,  and  especially  at  the  cost  of  their  lives. 
A  bad  man  is  an  opponent  of  sacred  truth,  not  its 
advocate.  A  corrupt  heart  and  an  infidel  creed 
usually  go  together. 

A  dissolute  life  and  an  open  antagonism  to  Chris- 
tianity usually  go  hand  in  hand.  There  is  no  con- 
geniality between  unbelief  and  the  Word  of  God. 
Consider  for  a  moment  the  characters  of  some  of  the 
most  famous,  or  infamous,  opponents  of  Divine  Truth. 
Says  Richard  Watson,  in  substance,  Bleunt  com- 


The  Divine  Inspiration,  etc.  117 


mitted  suicide  because  prevented  from  an  incestuous 
marriage ;  Tyndal  was  notoriously  infamous;  Hobbes 
changed  his  principles  with  his  interests ;  Morgan 
continued  to  profess  Christianity,  while  he  wrote 
against  it ;  the  moral  character  of  Voltaire  was  mean 
and  detestable ;  Bolingbroke  was  a  rake  and  a  fla- 
gitious politician ;  Hume  was  revengeful,  disgusting, 
vain,  and  an  advocate  of  adultery  and  suicide  ;  Tom 
Payne  was  the  slave  of  low  and  disgusting  habits ; 
Rosseau  was  an  abandoned  sensualist  and  guilty  of 
the  basest  acts. 

Would  any  jury  of  intelligent  men  decide  that  the 
Holy  Scriptures  were  inspired  by  men  of  this  char- 
acter? Have  they  any  marks  of  being  produced  by 
bad  men  ? 

2.  Is  the  Bible  the  work  of  good  men  ?  True,  God 
made  good  men  His  amanuenses,  but  they  were  not 
the  authors.  They  profess  to  write  by  divine  inspira- 
tion,and  for  their  utterances  always  have  a  "thus  saith 
the  Lord."  If  the  Bible  was  their  own  production, 
they  were  untruthful,  gross  impostors,  bad  men,  and 
as  such  would  never  have  given  it  to  the  world. 
Bad  men  would,  not  have  produced  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, and  good  men  could  not  have  done  so. 

May  it  be  said  that  the  authors  were  good  men 
who  acted  under  a  delusion — that  they  were  fanatics? 
This  was  charged  upon  St.  Paul ;  "  Thou  art  beside 
thyself."  But  is  it  at  all  probable  that  even  two  or 
three  men  should  have  been  affected  with  the  same 
spirit  of  fanaticism  ?  Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
all  the  authors  of  the  various  books  of  the  Bible  were 


118  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


thus  affected,  that  so  many  good  men  were  all  "  be- 
side "  themselves  ?  Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
their  fanaticism  led  them  to  foretell  events  in  the 
distant  future  which  have  been  exactly  fulfilled ; 
that  it  led  them  to  work  the  most  astonishing  mira- 
cles ;  that  it  led  unlettered  peasants,  and  fishermen 
to  evolve  and  transmit  to  posterity  the  most  perfect 
code  of  morals,  the  most  sublime  principles  of  philos- 
ophy, and  the  purest  system  of  ethics  ever  known? 
Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  fanaticism  led  so 
many  to  the  most  perfect  agreement  in  their  lofty 
conceptions  of  God,  and  in  the  statement  of  a  religion 
which,  despite  opposition  and  persecution  has  steadily 
grown,  until  it  dominates  the  most  cultivated,  en- 
lightened and  powerful  men  and  nations  of  the 
earth?  Mohammed  may  have  been  a  fanatic.  Un- 
less he  was  a  bad  man,  he  did  act  under  a  delusion. 
He  was,  however,  only  one  man,  but  the  Bible  was 
written  by  many  different  men.  One  man  may  be 
deluded,  but  it  is  not  reasonable  to  believe  that  so 
many  should  all  be  deceived,  and  that  this  deception 
should  lead  to  perfect  harmony  of  doctrine,  and  to 
the  production  of  the  most  masterly  work  ever  written, 
and  upon  the  most  profound  subject  that  can  engage 
the  human  intellect.  It  certainly  requires  a  greater 
effort  to  believe  the  Bible  false  than  to  believe  it  true. 
The  credulity  of  the  deist  is  unsurpassed. 

III.  The  Bible,  them,  had,  its  origin  in  God. 

If  it  is  not  the  work  of  Satan,  nor  of  bad  men,  nor 
of  good  men,  what  is  the  conclusion?    If  it  had  not 


The  Divine  Inspiration,  etc.  119 


its  origin  in  hell,  nor  on  earth,  where  did  it  originate  ? 
The  only  rational  answer  is  found  in  the  declaration 
of  Paul,  "  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of 
God."  "  Holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were 
moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  This  book  is  God-given, 
heaven-sent,  divine. 

And  is  it  not,  in  every  respect,  worthy  of  such  an 
author?  Is  it  not  just  what  might  be  expected,  not 
from  Satan,  nor  from  bad  men,  nor  from  good  men, 
but  from  God?  Look  at  the  sublimity  of  its  doc- 
trines, the  purity  of  its  morals,  the  benevolence  of  its 
spirit,  the  consolation  it  affords  in  sickness  and  in 
death.  No  philosopher  can  account  for  the  rise,  prog- 
ress and  prevalence  of  Christianity  in  opposition  to 
the  natural  dispositions  of  men,  their  prejudices,  and 
to  many  of  their  worldly  plans,  without  admitting  it 
attended  by  divine  power.  Then,  too,  truth  bears 
inspection.  The  more  carefully  the  Bible  is  studied, 
the  more  highly  it  is  prized.  Infidels  are  usually 
ignorant  of  its  contents,  and  are  not  qualified  to  pass 
judgment  upon  its  claims.  They  are  usually  im- 
moral in  their  lives,  and  no  wonder  they  antagonize 
a  book  that  reproves  and  condemns  them. 

The  death-bed  brings  us  to  an  honest  hour.  In 
the  prosperous  hours  of  life  and  health,  men  may  be 
deluded,  and  they  may  seek  to  deceive  others,  but 
rarely  so  when  they  stand  upon  the  shores  of  eternity. 
That  is  an  hour  of  revelations,  awful  and  grand. 
The  infidel  has  often,  therefore,  in  that  hour,  detected 
and  confessed  his  delusion.  No  instance,  however, 
is  recorded  where  one  who  enjoyed  the  assurance  of 


120  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


divine  pardon  in  life  has  regretted  his  faith  in  the 
Word  of  God,  or  sent  back  a  message  warning  his 
friends  against  his  mistake,  and  the  delusions  of 
Christianity.  Said  Tom  Payne,  referring  to  his  "Age 
of  Reason,"  "  If  ever  the  devil  had  agency  in  any 
work,  he  had  it  in  my  writing  that  book."  Said 
Voltaire,  "  I  am  abandoned  by  God  and  man  ;  I 
would  give  half  I  am  worth  for  six  months  longer  to 
live."  Said  the  dying  Altaraout,  "  My  principles 
have  poisoned  my  friends,  my  extravagance  has  beg- 
gared my  boy,  my  unkindness  has  murdered  my 
wife,  and  is  there  another  hell  ?  Oh !  thou  blas- 
phemed, but  indulgent  God,  hell  is  a  refuge  if  it  but 
hide  me  from  thy  face!"  Said  Gibbon,  the  eloquent 
historian  of  the  Roman  Empire,  "  All  thiugs  are  fleet- 
ing; before  me  all  is  dark  and  doubtful." 

Turn  to  the  bedside  of  the  dying  Cristian.  Said 
John  Knox,  "I  am  not  anxious  whether  I  die  or  not, 
for  if  I  die  I  shall  be  with  God,  and  if  I  live  He  will 
be  with  me."  Said  John  Wesley,  "  The  best  of  all  is, 
God  is  with  us."  Said  Payson,  "The  celestial  city  is 
in  full  view."  Said  Stephen  Gano.  "  I  breathe  the  air 
of  heaven." 

And  yet,  in  the  face  of  all  these  testimonies,  there 
are  in  this  Christian  land,  in  this  enlightened  age, 
bold,  blatant  infidels  who  inject  their  deadly  poison 
into  the  hearts  of  our  young  men.  "They  speak 
evil  of  those  things  which  they  know  not;  but  what 
they  know  naturally,  as  brute  beasts,  in  those  things 
they  corrupt  themselves;  raging  waves  of  the  sea, 
foaming  out  their  own  shame;  wandering  stars,  to 


The  Divine  Inspiration,  etc. 


121 


whom  is  reserved  the  blackness  of  darkness  forever." 
Their  companionship  is  more  fatal  than  the  plague 
or  the  serpent.  Their  presence  is  poison,  their  breath 
is  perdition. 

We  read  of  the  death  plant  of  Java.  It  is  rarely 
found,  and  only  in  volcanic  districts  The  flowers 
are  large,  milk  white  and  attractive,  but  with  all 
their  beauty  they  distill  a  deadly  perfume  so  power- 
ful as  to  destroy  either  vegetable  or  animal  life.  The 
pure  and  fragrant  lilly  when  set  within  the  range 
of  this  sickening,  pungent  perfume  soon  droops  and 
dies.  The  modest  violet  and  queenly  rose  wither  and 
fade  away  in  its  vicinity.  The  bird  of  paradise, 
when  it  ventures  near,  loses  his  brilliant  plumage 
and  falls  fluttering  and  lifeless  to  the  ground.  The 
bold  adventurer,  or  unwary  traveler  who  approaches 
it,  experiences  violent  convulsions  which  draw  the 
mouth  into  a  fearful  grin,  followed  by  headache, 
insensibility  and  death.  It  fitly  represents  the  mod- 
ern infidel.  His  baleful  association  blights  all  that 
is  pure,  and  modest,  and  lovely,  and  of  good  report. 
The  odor  of  his  presence  afflicts  the  soul  with  moral 
convulsions  that  terminate  in  the  sardonic  grin  and 
endless  pangs  of  perdition.  "Blessed  is  the  man 
that  walketh  not  in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly,  nor 
standeth  in  the  way  of  sinners,  nor  sitteth  in  the  seat 
of  the  scornful." 

"  Should  all  the  forms  that  men  devise, 
Assault  my  faith  with  treacherous  art, 
I'd  call  them  vanity  and  lies 
And  bind  the  gospel  to  my  heart." 


122  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


CHRIST'S  COMING. 
By  Rev.  J.  A.  Reagan,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

"  He  came  unto  His  own  and  His  own  received  Him  not."— John  i :  11. 

There  are  but  few  subjects  of  more  interest  to  the 
Christian  world  than  the  one  we  propose  briefly  to 
investigate;  nor  are  there  many  from  which  we  can 
learn  more  strikingly  the  necessity  of  implicit  obe- 
dience to  divine  precepts.  Did  Christ  come  as  the 
Scriptures  foretold?  or  are  the  Jews  right  in  still 
looking  for  another?  It  was  to  them  that  the  proph- 
ets spake;  in  their  midst,  and  before  their  eyes  signs 
and  wonders  were  performed.  It  was  to  them  that 
the  law  was  given,  and  they  were  the  acknowledged 
exponents  of  the  same;  and  yet  they  declared  that 
he  who  called  himself  Christ  was  an  impostor;  that 
his  disciples  were  deluded,  and  the  Christian  world 
humbugged.  This  declaration,  coming  from  the 
source  it  does,  deserves  at  least  some  notice;  and  if 
the  coming  of  Christ  cannot  be  established  beyond 
all  successful  contradiction,  we  had  better  abandon 
our  faith  and  chime  in  with  the  Jews  in  looking  for 
a  Saviour  yet  to  come.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if 
we  are  able  to  prove  successfully  that  He  is  the  very 
Christ,  the  Saviour  of  men,  the  "  God  with  us,"  the 
"  anointed  "  of  heaven,  the  one  foretold  by  the  proph- 
ets, the  great  prototype  to  which  all  other  types 
pointed,  then  may  we  stand  fast  and  firm  in  our  faith,, 
and  glory  in  that  we  have  embraced  Him  as  our 
Saviour. 


Christ's  Coming. 


123 


In  order  to  this,  we  will  notice  some  of  the  proph- 
ecies relating  to  His  coming,  and  the  circumstances 
connected  therewith,  as  well  as  their  fulfillment. 

The  manner  and  circumstances  under  which  those 
prophecies  were  communicated  to  man  were  peculiar; 
nevertheless,  when  we  rightly  understand  them  they 
show  the  wisdom  of  God  in  thus  arranging  them. 

The  first  prophecy  in  relation  to  the  coming  of 
Christ  was  given  in  the  form  of  a  promise,  without 
telling  the  time,  circumstances,  name,  lineage  or  any- 
thing else  whereby  the  most  distant  idea  could  be 
formed  of  Him,  save  that  He  was  to  "destroy  the 
works  of  the  devil."  This  prophecy  was  delivered 
in  these  words  to  the  serpent,  doubtless  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Adam  and  Eve:  "And  I  will  put  enmity 
between  thee  and  the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed 
and  her  seed :  it  (the  seed  of  the  woman)  shall  bruise 
thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel."  It  is  evi* 
dent  that  our  first  parents,  as  well  as  subsequent  gen- 
erations, could  not  have  looked  for  a  temporal  fulfill- 
ment of  this  promise,  or  phophecy,  for  had  they  done 
so,  no  comfort  could  have  been  derived  by  it.  They 
had  just  sinned — merited  the  displeasure  of  God — 
justly  brought  upon  them  His  wrath  and  indigna- 
tion ;  were  to  be  driven  from  the  garden  and  their  con- 
verse with  the  Almighty,  and  deprived  of  His  smiles 
and  blessings.  And,  if  with  all  these  miseries  press- 
ing upon  them,  He  had  told  them,  or  they  had  under- 
stood, that  they  were  literally  to  bruise  the  serpent's 
head,  would  it  not  have  been  adding  misery  to  misery, 
instead  of  giving  comfort  to  the  disconsolate?  It 


124 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


was  a  restoration  to  the  favor  of  God  that  they 
desired;  peace  and  happiness  for  themselves  and 
children  that  they  earnestly  sought,  and  this  came 
to  them  in  the  language  above  given,  and  faith  in 
that  promise  gave  them  peace,  mitigated  their  suffer- 
ings and  enabled  them  to  endure  their  banishment. 

This  promise,  in  itself,  was  not  sufficient  for  those 
who  had  a  disposition  to  doubt  and  quibble;  nor 
would  it  have  enabled  us  to  embrace  anyone  as  the 
Messiah.  With  this  declaration  alone,  we  would  have 
been  liable  to  imposition  in  every  age.  Some  would 
have  followed  one  and  some  another,  each  claiming  to 
be  sound  in  faith,  and  contending  that  all  others  are 
wrong.  But  God  does  not  leave  things  in  this  way, 
for  He  brings  ends  together  in  such  a  way  that  His 
people  may  well  say,  "He  perfects  what  His  hands 
begin."  After  a  lapse  of  something  over  two  thou- 
sand years,  God  again  appears  to  man  in  another 
promise  drawing  nearer  the  point,  and  limiting  the 
fulfillment  of  the  previous  promise  to  the  lineage  or 
descendants  of  Abraham,  saying:  "In  thee,  and  in 
thy  seed,  shall  all  nations  be  blessed."  Previous  to 
this  it  was  not  only  unknown  at  what  time  He  should 
come,  but  of  what  family  He  should  be  born,  but 
now  the  glorious  promise  came  as  the  mid-day  Sun 
bursting  from  the  chaos  of  darkness,  and  limits  it  to 
the  descendants  of  that  faithful  servant  of  God.  But 
even  yet  there  was  impenetrable  gloom  hanging  over 
the  fulfillment  of  this  glorious  promise.  This,  how- 
ever, was  not  to  remain  so  long,  for  God  determined 
to  arrange  it  in  a  way  that  could  not  be  gainsaid. 


Christ's  Coming.  125 

Old  Israel  or  Jacob,  after  a  long  pilgrimage  of  one 
hundred  and  forty-seven  years,  was  brought  by  the 
hand  of  affliction  near  death's  door,  and  here  God 
in  his  last  hours  removed  the  veil,  poured  into  his 
sinking  heart  the  renewal  of  past  promises,  and 
showed  him  their  fulfillment.  After  Jacob  had 
blessed  a  part  of  his  children,  he  called  for  Judah, 
and  with  eyes  turned  toward  heaven  and  a  heart 
filled  with  divine  inspiration,  he  says,  "The  sceptre 
shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from 
between  his  feet,  until  Shiloh  come:  and  unto  him 
shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be."  How  consol- 
ing! how  transcendantly  glorious  must  have  been 
this  promise?  and  with  what  joy  must  it  have  been 
received?  The  time — the  blessed  time — was  now 
told.  Judah  was  to  hold  the  "  sceptre  "  and  have  a 
"law-giver"  until  He  that  was  promised  should 
come.  Was  not  this  enough?  He  wras  to  descend 
from  Abraham,  as  had  been  told,  and  now  the  time 
was  imperfectly  made  known. 

Let  us,  therefore,  briefly  call  your  attention  to  the 
fulfillment  of  these  prophecies.  Paul  in  writing  to 
the  Galatians,  says :  "  But  when  the  fullness  of  the 
time  was  come,  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of  a 
woman,  made  under  the  law,  to  redeem  them  that 
were  under  the  law,  that  we  might  receive  the  adop- 
tion of  sons."  And  John  in  his  first  general  epistle, 
says,  "  He  that  committeth  sin,  is  of  the  devil ;  for 
the  devil  sinneth  from  the  beginning.  For  this  pur- 
pose the  Son  of  God  was  manifested,  that  he  might 
destroy  the  works  of  the  devil."     Here  we  are 


126  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


assured  that  he  came  at  the  time,  and  did  the  work 
which  was  implied  in  the  first  promise — "  destroyed 
the  works  of  the  devil."  Bat  in  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  nation  to  the  weak  and  doubting  heart  fate 
seems,  at  times,  against  His  coming  before  Judah 
shall  lose  the  "  sceptre"  and  "  law-giver."  The  Jews 
apostatized;  the  God  of  their  fathers  was  angry  with 
them ;  they  were  driven  before  their  enemies ;  de- 
spoiled of  their  wealth  ;  and  led  captives  to  Babylon. 
But  still  those  who  remained  were  permitted  to  ex- 
ercise their  own  laws,  and  to  weakly  sway  the  sceptre 
of  Judah.  Again,  when  more  prosperous  days  had 
dawned,  Alexander,  the  terror  of  the  world,  who  had 
laid  waste  and  made  desolate  all  the  nations  through 
which  he  passed,  drew  near  to  Jerusalem,  their 
hearts  sank  within  them ;  the  weak  sceptre  trem- 
bled; and  the  pains  of  death  encompassed  them. 
But  before  he  arrived,  God,  who  "  moves  in  a  myste- 
rious way,  His  wonders  to  perform,"  had  subdued 
his  ambitious  heart ;  turned  his  wrath  to  love,  and 
Israel  was  left  alone  in  quiet  Such  are  the  workings 
of  the  Almighty. 

But,  notwithstanding  the  prophecy  declared  that 
"Shiloh"  should  come  before  Judah  should  lose  the 
sceptre,  and  the  angels  now  testified  that  he  had 
come,  yet,  even  here  there  was  some  room  left  for 
imposition,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see.  Daniel,  how- 
ever, confirms  the  prophecy  by  foretelling  the  pre- 
cise year  and  month,  if  not  day,  in  which  He  should 
come:  "Seventy  weeks  are  determined  upon  thy 
people  and  upon  thy  holy  city,  to  finish  the  trans- 


Christ's  Coming. 


127 


gression,  and  to  make  an  end  of  sins,  and  to  make 
reconciliation  for  iniquity,  and  to  seal  up  the  vision 
and  prophecy,  and  to  anoint  the  Most  Holy.  Know- 
therefore  and  understand,  that  from  the  going  forth 
of  the  commandment  to  restore  and  to  build  Jerusa- 
lem unto  the  Messiah  the  Prince,  shall  be  seven 
weeks,  and  threescore  weeks." 

The  Jews  had  Sabbatic  years,  by  which  their  time 
was  divided  into  weeks  of  years ;  each  prophetic 
week  denoting  seven  years — hence  Daniel's  "  seventy 
weeks"  stand  (prophetically)  for  four  hundred  and 
ninety  years.  Most  of  the  learned  agree  that  the  birth 
of  Christ  took  place  in  the  month  Nisan,  in  the  year 
of  the  Julian  Period  4746.  Reckoning  back  from 
this  period  four  hundred  and  ninety  years,  we  are 
brought  to  the  same  month,  Nisan,  in  the  reign  of 
Artaxerxes  Longimanus,  at  the  very  time  that  Ezra 
received  the  commission  from  this  monarch  to 
"  restore  and  rebuild  Jerusalem." 

In  order  to  distinguish  the  promised  Messiah  from 
all  others,  and  leave  no  reasonable  ground  for  cavil 
and  doubt,  God  has  given  us,  by  the  holy  prophets, 
many  incidents  connected  with  his  coming,  etc., 
which  we  will  briefly  notice. 

1.  Christ  was  to  have  a  forerunner.  Isaiah,  when 
speaking  of  him  (the  forerunner),  says:  "The  voice 
of  him  that  crieth  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  Lord;  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  high- 
way for  our  God."  Luke  says,  "  He  (John)  came 
into  all  the  country  about  Jordan,  preaching  the 
baptism  of  repentance  for  the  remission  of  sins;  as 


128  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


it  is  written  in  the  words  of  Esaias  the  prophet,  say- 
ing, The  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness,  Pre- 
pare ye  the  way  of  the  Lord."  Again,  it  is  said  in 
Malachi,  "  Behold  I  will  send  my  messenger,  and  he 
shall  prepare  the  way  before  me;  and  the  Lord 
whom  ye  seek  shall  suddenly  come  into  his  tem- 
ple; even  the  messenger  of  the  covenant,  whom  ye 
delight  in."  This  messenger  is  called  "  Elijah,"  by 
the  same  prophet.  Hence  the  Jews  asked  John  if 
he  was  Elias,  or  that  prophet. 

2.  Jesus  was  to  be  born  of  a  virgin.  "  Therefore  the 
Lord  himself  shall  give  you  a  sign  ;  Behold,  a  virgin 
shall  conceive,  and  bear  a  son,  and  call  his  name 
Immanuel."  Isaiah  vii :  14.  This  was  most  strikingly 
fulfilled  ;  for  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ  was  on  this 
wise :  when  his  mother  Mary  was  espoused  to  Joseph, 
before  they  came  together,  she  was  found  to  be  with 
child  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Then  Joseph,  her  hus- 
band, being  a  just  man,  and  not  willing  to  make  her 
a  public  example,  was  minded  to  put  her  away 
privily.  But  while  he  thought  on  these  things,  be- 
hold, the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  unto  him  in  a 
dream,  saying,  Joseph,  thou  son  of  David,  fear  not 
to  take  unto  thee  Mary  thy  wife ;  for  that  which  is 
conceived  in  her  is  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  she 
shall  bring  forth  a  son,  and  thou  shalt  call  his  name 
Jesus." 

This  is  so  plain  that  comment  is  entirely  unnec- 
essary. 

3.  The  place  of  Christ's  birth,  also,  was  foretold. 
And  this,  being  correctly  understood,  is  one  of  the 


Christ's  Coming.  129 

clearest  and  most  convincing  prophecies  connected 
with  the  coming  of  Christ ;  and  removes  every  pos- 
sible chance  for  imposition.  "  But  thou  Bethlehem 
Ephratah,  though  thou  be  little  among  the  thousands 
of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee  shall  he  come  forth  unto  me 
that  is  to  be  ruler  in  Israel ;  whose  goings  forth  have 
been  from  of  old,  from  everlasting." — Mich,  v:  2.  "God 
brought  him  forth  out  of  Egypt;  he  hath  as  it  were 
the  strength  of  a  unicorn." — Num.  xxiv:  8.  "  When 
Israel  was  a  child,  then  I  loved  him,  and  called  my 
son  out  of  Egypt." — Hos  xi:  1.  "  For  the  child  shall 
be  a  Nazarite  unto  God."  In  these  prophecies  there 
seems  to  be,  at  first  view,  a  contradiction  ;  but,  on  a 
closer  examination,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  wisdom 
of  God  is  made  manifest  in  this  arrangement.  Let 
us  look  at  it:  Had  God  only  said  that  Christ  should 
be  born  in  "Bethlehem  Ephratah;"  had  the  time 
of  His  birth  been  pointed  out  also  ;  and  had  even  His 
forerunner  been  seen  preparing  the  way  for  Christ, 
with  all  His  foretold  insignia  upon  Him;  yet  there 
might  have  been  some  room  left  for  imposition  ;  for 
there  might  have  been  others  besides  Christ,  who, 
having  been  born  in  the  same  year,  montk  and  place 
with  Jesus,  would  have  urged  their  claims  to  the 
Messiahship.  But  the  discrepancy  above  named  en- 
tirely precluded  the  possibility  of  even  a  plausible 
pretension  to  such  claims  on  the  part  of  any  impos- 
tor; and  the  obscurity  thrown  around  those  predic- 
tions aids  us  much,  when  developed  or  precisely  ful- 
filled, as  has  been  done,  in  distinguishing  the  true 
from  every  false  Christ.  Had  there  arisen  an  impos- 
9  * 


130 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


tor  in  Bethlehem,  he  could  not  have  succeeded  in  his 
fraud,  from  the  fact  that  he  was  not  "  called  out  of 
Egypt."  And  had  there  been  one  professedly  "  called 
out  of  Egypt,"  he  would  not  have  been  entitled  to 
the  appellation  of  "  a  Nazarene."  And  had  one  come 
out  of  Nazareth,  he  would  have  been  equally  want- 
ing. But  were  all  these  prophecies  fulfilled  in  the 
person  of  Christ  ?  Let  us  see  :  "  And  Joseph  also 
went  up  from  Galilee  out  of  the  city  of  Nazareth, 
into  Judea,  unto  the  city  of  David,  which  is  called 
Bethlehem  (because  he  was  of  the  house  and  lineage 
of  David),  to  be  taxed  with  Mary,  his  espoused  wife, 
being  great  with  child.  And  so  it  was,  that  while 
they  were  there,  the  days  were  accomplished  that  she 
should  be  delivered.  And  she  brought  forth  her 
first-born  son."  This  fact  is  also  established  by  the 
testimony  of  the  "  wise  men,"  and  the  "  star  "  which 
guided  them  to  the  place  where  He  lay,  as  well  as  the 
angels  that  appeared  to  the  shepherds  who  were  feed- 
ing their  ;flock,  saying,  "  For  unto  you  is  born  this 
day,  in  the  city  of  David,  a  Saviour  which  is  Christ 
the  Lord."  This  is  proof  sufficient  that  He  was  "born 
in  Bethlehem."  But  was  He  also  "  called  out  of 
Egypt "?  "  The  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  to  Joseph 
in  a  dream,  saying,  Arise  and  take  the  young  child 
and  his  mother  and  flee  into  Egypt,  and  be  thou 
there  until  I  bring  thee  word."  But  when  Herod  was 
dead,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  again  appeared  to  Joseph, 
saying  "  Arise  and  take  the  young  child  and  his 
mother,  and  go  into  the  land  of  Israel :  for  they  are 
dead  which  sought  the  young  child's  life."    We  now 


Christ's  Coming. 


131 


see  that  He  was  "born  in  Bethlehem,"  and  "called 
out  of  Egypt."  It  only  remains  for  us  to  see  that  He 
legally  received  the  appellation  of  "  a  Nazarene"  and 
then  we  are  done  with  this  part  of  our  subject.  "But 
when  he  heard  that  Archelaus  did  reign  in  Judea  in 
the  room  of  his  father  Herod,  he  was  afraid  to  go 
thither :  notwithstanding,  being  warned  of  God  in  a 
dream,  he  turned  aside  into  the  parts  of  Galilee:  and 
he  came  and  dwelt  in  a  city  called  Nazareth  :  that  it 
might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the  prophets, 
He  shall  be  called  a  Nazarene."  This  must  certainly 
put  the  refutation  of  Christ's  coming  in  the  manner 
foretold  entirely  beyond  even  the  attempts  of  infi- 
dels and  skeptics. 

4.  Christ  was  to  be  betrayed  by  a  friend,  as  had  been 
foretold.  David  says,  "  My  own  familiar  friend  in 
whom  I  trusted,  which  did  eat  of  my  bread,  hath 
lifted  up  his  heel  against  me."  And  the  Evangelists 
informs  us  that "  Satan  entered  into  Judas  surnamed 
Iscariot,  being  of  the  number  of  the  twelve:  And 
he  went  his  way  and  communed  with  the  chief 
priests  and  captains,  how  he  might  betray  him  unto 
them.  And  they  were  glad,  and  covenanted  to  give 
him  money."  By  consulting  the  history  of  inspira- 
tion farther,  we  learn  that  Judas  had  seen  the  blind 
restored  to  sight ;  the  lame  made  to  walk  ;  the  deaf 
caused  to  hear ;  the  dumb  enabled  to  speak ;  lepers 
instantly  cleansed;  devils  cast  out,  and  even  the 
dead  restored  to  life;  that  he  had  thus  seen  the 
power  of  God  made  manifest,  and  for  the  paltry  sum 
of  "  thirty  pieces  of  silver  "  or  fifteen  dollars  he 


132 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


betrayed  the  Lord  of  Glory  "  into  the  hands  of  wicked 
men ! 

5.  Christ  was  to  be  dumb  before  His  persecutors.  "  He 
was  oppressed  and  he  was  afflicted  ;  yet  he  opened 
not  his  mouth  :  he  is  brought  as  a  latnb  to  the  slaugh- 
ter, and  as  a  sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  he 
openeth  not  his  mouth."  This  declaration,  made 
seven  hundred  and  twelve  years  before  Christ,  was 
most  strikingly  fulfilled  by  him — "And  when  he 
was  accused  of  the  chief  priests  and  elders,  he  an- 
swered nothing.  Then,  said  Pilate  unto  him,  Hear- 
est  thou  not  how  many  things  they  witness  against 
thee  ?  And  he  answered  him  too  never  a  word  :  inso- 
much that  the  governor  marveled  greatly." 

6.  They  were  to  cast  lots  upon  Christ's  vesture.  David 
says,  "  They  part  my  garments  among  them,  and 
cast  lots  upon  my  vesture."  And  Luke,  in  describ- 
ing the  scene  on  Calvary,  says,  that  Jesus  in  the  ago- 
nies of  death  exclaimed,  "  Father  forgive  them  ;  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do :  And  they  parted  his 
raiment  and  cast  lots." 

7.  Christ  ivas  to  be  "  numbered  with  the  transgressors." 
Isaiah  liii:  12 — "  Then  were  there  two  thieves  cruci- 
fied with  him  ;  one  on  the  right  hand  and  another 
on  the  left."  Math,  xxvii:  38.  Here  we  see  how 
clearly  this  prediction  was  fulfilled. 

8.  There  was  not  to  be  "  a  bone  of  him  broken." 
Psalms,  xxxiv:  20.  John,  who  was  an  eye-witness, 
and  faithful  servant  of  Jesus,  says,  "  The  Jews  there- 
fore, because  it  was  the  preparation,  that  the  bodies 
should  not  remain  upon  the  cross  on  the  Sabbath 


Christ's  Coming. 


133 


day  (for  that  Sabbath  day  was  a  high  day),  besought 
Pilate  that  their  legs  might  be  broken,  and  that  they 
might  be  taken  away.  Then  came  the  soldiers,  and 
brake  the  legs  of  the  first,  and  of  the  other  which 
was  crucified  with  him.  But  when  they  came  to 
Jesus  and  saw  that  he  was  already  dead,  they  brake 
not  his  legs." 

9.  The  manner  of  Christ's  burial  was  also  foretold. 
"  And  he  made  his  grave  with  the  wicked,  and  with 
the  rich  in  his  death ;  because  he  had  done  no  vio- 
lence, neither  was  any  deceit  in  his  mouth."  Isaiah 
liii.  When  the  even  was  come,  there  came  a  rich 
man  of  Arimathea,  named  Joseph,  who  also  himself 
was  Jesus'  disciple :  He  went  to  Pilate  and  begged 
the  body  of  Jesus.  Then  Pilate  commanded  the 
body  to  be  delivered.  And  when  Joseph  had  taken 
the  body,  he  wrapped  it  in  a  clean  linen  cloth,  and 
laid  it  in  his  own  new  tomb,  which  had  been  hewn 
out  in  the  rock."  Math,  xxvii :  10.  Jesus  himself 
declared  that  he  would  rise  the  third  day.  John  ii:  19. 
On  the  third  morning,  therefore,  those  devoted  and 
beloved  women  that  had  been  last  to  leave  our 
Saviour,  found  their  way  to  the  sepulchre,  and  when 
they  arrived  the  resurrection  had  taken  place;  but 
they  saw  "  the  angel  of  the  Lord  "  that  "  answered 
and  said  unto  them,  Fear  not  ye  :  for  I  know  that  ye 
seek  Jesus,  which  was  crucified.  He  is  not  here ;  for 
he  is  risen,  as  he  said.  Come  see  the  place  where  the 
Lord  lay." 

We  have  now  briefly  passed  over  some  of  the  most 
important  prophecies  concerning  our  Saviour,  and  also 


134  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


noticed  their  fulfillment,  and  now  ask  the  candid 
reader  t©  examine  for  himself  and  ask  the  question  (for 
reason  and  common  sense  to  answer),  could  the  Jews, 
or  anyone  else,  since  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  help 
acknowledging  Him  as  the  "  very  Christ,"  without 
doing  it  ignorantly  or  wilfully?  How  can  such  tes- 
timony be  gainsaid?  And  how  ignorant  of  the 
Scriptures  must  a*'man  be  to  reject  Him  and  look  for 
another!  But  strange  as  these  things  may  seem, 
these  very  people  who  had  the  writings  of  "  Moses 
and  the  prophets,"  and  who  were  anxiously  awaiting 
a  deliverer,  refused  to  own  Him  as  their  Saviour !  "  He 
was  in  the  world,  and  the  world  was  made  by  him, 
and  the  world  knew  him  not.  He  came  unto  his 
own,  and  his  own  received  him  not."  But  when 
Pilate  was  willing  to  release  Jesus  unto  them,  they 
cried  out  in  a  tumult,  "Crucify  him,  crucify  him." 
And  "  when  Pilate  saw  that  he  could  prevail  nothing, 
but  that  rather  a  tumult  was  made,  he  took  water 
and  washed  his  hands  before  the  multitude,  saying, 
I  am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this  just  person:  See 
ye  to  it."  "Then  answered  all  the  people,  and  said, 
His  blood  be  on  us,  and  on  our  children." 

We  have  made  the  above  quotations  in  order  to 
show  the  manner  in  which  the  Jews  rejected  our 
Saviour.  It  is  evident  that  their  pride  kept  them,  in 
this  instance,  from  doing  what  their  judgment  con- 
vinced them  that  they  should  do.  If  our  Saviour  had 
descended  from  glory  in  a  chariot  of  fire,  demolished 
earthly  kingdoms,  and  rode  in  triumph  through  the 
earth,  then  would  they  have  embraced  Him  and 


Christ's  Coming. 


135 


humbled  themselves  before  Him.  Bat  because  He 
came  as  an  humble  babe  of  Bethlehem  they  cast 
Him  off — refusing  to  embrace  Him  as  the  Messiah. 
And  when  they  had  witnessed  His  miracles,  they 
were  astonished  and  confounded,  but  still  their  proud 
hearts  refused  to  own  Him.  Hence  they  closed  their 
eyes,  refusing  to  see ;  stopped  their  ears,  unwilling  to 
hear ;  hardened  their  hearts,  lest  they  should  be  con- 
vinced, and  thus  blindly  and  wilfully  cast  Him  from 
them,  crying,  "Away  with  him;"  "Crucify  him!" 
Strange  as  this  course  may  seem  to  us  at  the  present 
time,  we  have  many  among  us  that  act  upon  pre- 
cisely the  same  principle.  If  religion  went  in  pomp 
and  splendor,  with  golden  slippers  and  silken  gloves, 
speaking  honeyed  words  with  buttered  tongue, 
through  velvet  lips,  and  exalting  men  to  high  earthly 
honors,  they  would  then  gladly,  and  of  their  own 
choice,  be  Christians!  But  when  it  demands  an 
humble  heart  and  godly  walk,  asks,  "that  all  men 
shall  be  equal,"  and  act  in  unison,  as  followers  of 
Christ,  they  demur,  and  say  by  their  actions,  as  the 
Jews  said  of  Christ,  "  Away  with  religion  "  for  this 
time,  "  when  we  have  a  convenient  season  "  we  will 
think  more  about  it. 

May  God  help  us  to  be  wise  unto  salvation,  know- 
ing that  there  is  no  salvation  out  of  Christ.  May 
we  embrace  Him,  love  Him,  honor  and  obey  Him, 
that  we  may  be  eternally  saved  with  Him.  Amen. 


136  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


"  IF." 

By  Rev.  T.  J.  Ogburn, 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Methodist  Protestant  Conference. 


"And  there  were  four  leprous  men  at  the  entering  in  of  the  gate :  and 
they  said  one  to  another,  why  sit  we  here  until  we  die !  If  we  say,  we 
will  go  into  the  city,  then  the  famine  is  in  the  city,  and  we  shall  die 
there :  and  if  we  sit  still  here  we  die  also.  Now  therefore  come  and  let 
us  fall  unto  the  host  of  the  Syrians:  if  they  save  us  alive,  we  shall  live; 
and  if  they  kill  us,  we  shall  but  die."  II  Kings  vii :  3,  4. 

Parallel  passages— Esther  iv :  16,  and  Jonah  iii :  9. 

These  scriptures  suggest  and  illustrate  the  neces- 
sity, wisdom  and  duty  of  sometimes  accepting  and 
acting  upon  very  unsatisfactory  evidence,  evidence 
amounting  to  only  a  bare  possibility,  and  of  deciding 
positively  under  even  painful  uncertainty.  There 
are,  here  and  there,  persons  predisposed  to  religious 
doubt,  who  are  naturally  skeptical  as  to  God  and  all 
revealed  truth,  and  who  would  excuse  themselves 
from  the  demands  of  Christianity  upon  their  service, 
and  who  suppose  they  can  with  impunity  ignore  all 
its  claims,  because  a  kind  of  uncertainty  and  unreal- 
ity attaches  to  religious  things;  because  their  truth 
is  not  capable  of  mathematical  demonstration,  and 
because  doubts  may  be  entertained  concerning  them. 
Now  we  believe  this  assumed  attitude  of  indifference 
and  irresponsibility  as  to  religious  things,  the  evi- 
dence of  the  truth  and  reality  of  which  is  not  to 
every  mind  obvious  and  unmistakable,  is  utterly 
unreasonable  and  unlike  men's  conduct  in  what  are 
called  life's  practical  affairs.  To  almost  every  busi- 
ness undertaking  there  attaches  more  or  less  uncer- 
tainty as  to  its  success  and  propriety ;  and  almost 


137 


every  such  enterprise  is,  indeed,  a  venture,  And  in 
many  cases  to  refuse  to  venture,  painful  as  is  the 
doubt  and  unpromising  as  are  the  appearances,  would 
be  criminal.  Says  Bishop  Butler,  "To  us,  probabil- 
ity is  the  very  guide  of  life.  In  matters  of  practice,  it 
(probable  evidence)  will  lay  us  under  an  absolute  and 
formal  obligation,  in  point  of  prudence  and  of  inter- 
est, to  act  upon  presumption  or  low  probability,  though 
it  be  so  low  as  to  leave  the  mind  in  very  great  doubt 
which  is  the  truth.  For  surely  a  man  is  as  really 
bound  in  prudence  to  do  what,  upon  the  whole,  ac- 
cording to  the  best  of  his  judgment,  appears  to  be 
for  his  happiness  as  what  he  certainly  knows  to  be. 
*  *  *  Numberless  instances  might  be  mentioned 
respecting  the  common  pursuits  of  life  where  a  man 
would  be  thought,  in  a  literal  sense,  distracted,  who 
would  not  act,  and  with  great  application  too,  not 
only  upon  an  even  chance,  but  upon  much  less,  and 
where  the  probability  or  chance  was  greatly  against 
his  succeeding."  The  conduct  of  the  poor  lepers  in 
the  text  is  manifestly  wise.  Their  condition  was 
desperate.  They  must  die  unless  they  go  into  the 
enemy's  camp ;  there  they  could  but  die,  and  they 
might  live.  Could  Aristotle,  or  Locke,  or  Bacon,  have 
reasoned  better?  Thus,  often,  in  utter  desperation 
and  under  compulsion  to  do  a  rash  thing  or  die,  a  kind 
of  fool-hardiness  proves  to  be  the  highest  wisdom.  It 
was  so  in  the  case  of  Esther,  who,  with  no  encour- 
agement and  "  not  according  to  the  law,"  with  her  life 
in  her  hand,  went  in  before  the  King  to  avert  the 
impending  doom  of  herself  and  her  people.    "  If  I 


138 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


perish,  I  perish."  Nor  were  the  Ninevites  unreason- 
able in  repenting  and  crying  mightily  unto  God, 
although  with  no  assurance  that  He  would  hear  them, 
but  only  the  bare  possibility,  "  Who  can  tell  if  God 
will  repent  and  turn  himself  from  his  fierce  anger 
that  we  perish  not?"  True,  in  neither  case  above 
cited  did  the  actors  know  they  would  succeed.  Bat 
it  is  just  as  true  they  did  not  know  they  would  not. 
Upon  this  ground  of  uncertainty  does  the  agnostic 
stand — uncertainty  as  to  supernatural  things.  He 
neither  affirms  nor  denies.  He  says  these  things 
are  neither  provable  nor  disprovable ;  they  are  to  us 
unknowable.  Yet  because,  as  he  thinks,  the  revela- 
tions of  Christianity  are  not  demonstrably  true,  not 
capable  of  positive  proof,  therefore  he  may  utterly 
disregard  its  claims,  and  with  the  snap  of  his  finger 
toss  away  from  his  consideration  the  sublimest  ques- 
tion's of  life.  Though,  like  Athenians,  to  whom  God 
was  "  the  unknown,"  he  is  not,  like  them,  "  too  super- 
stitious"; for  to  this  "  unknown  God"  he  has  neither 
altar  nor  inscription. 

Not  infrequently  some  flippant  unbeliever  asks, 
who  knows  that  there  is  a  God ;  that  the  Bible  is  true, 
and  that  there  is  a  future  life  of  bliss  or  woe  accord- 
ing to  our  conduct  here  ?  I  would  ask,  does  he  know 
there  is  no  God  ?  "  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart 
there  is  no  God  ;  "  but  his  saying  so  does  not  make 
it  so.  Nor  does  one's  attitude  towards  any  question 
affect  that  question.  It  may,  and  often  does,  affect 
him.  Men  once  doubted  the  existence  of  this  con- 
tinent.   But  it  was  here  all  the  same,  a  vast  out- 


139 


stretch  of  country,  with  its  fertile  plains  and  tower- 
ing mountains,  and  the  thundering  cataracts  and 
untold  mineral  wealth,  and  infinitely  varied  and 
abundant  resources  sufficient  to  support  in  magnifi- 
cent splendor  the  mightiest  nation  that  ever  peopled 
any  country,  nor  did  it  ever  shrink  an  inch  from  its 
natural  proportions  to  accommodate  those  who 
doubted  its  existence.  Facts  are  very  unaccommo- 
dating things.  Real  facts  are  absolutely  indepen- 
dent. They  do  not  change  for  anything.  I  suppose 
that  even  Omnipotence  could  not  affect  a  fact.  You 
"  do  not  believe  there  is  any  God."  Do  you  know 
there  is  none?  Have  you  philosophically  demon- 
strated the  impossibility  of  His  existence?  Have 
you  positive  evidence  of  His  non-existence  ?  Do  you 
know  all  that  can  be  known  upon  this  subject  ?  Have 
you  searched  the  universe  through  and  through,  and 
do  you  now  return  with  certain  assurance  that  this 
vasj;  and  orderly  system  has  no  maker,  no  ruler? 
"  Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  (no)  God  ?  "  You 
"  do  not  believe  the  Bible  can  be  proven  true  ?  "  Can 
you  prove  it  untrue  ?  Do  you  know  there  is  no  here- 
after, nor  heaven,  nor  hell  ?  Are  you  quite  sure  that 
the  Gospels  are  a  forgery,  that  Jesus  is  a  myth  and 
Christianity  a  farce?  And  have  you  named  your 
boys  Paine  and  Voltaire  and  Eosseau,  and  do  you 
teach  them  your  skeptical  principles?  Unless  very 
immodest,  you  must  admit  that  you  may  mistake ; 
that  possibly,  that  grand  religious  system  whose 
"leading  tenets  are  held  by  every  university  of 
eminent  repute  in  Europe  and  America,"  many  of 


140 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


whose  professedly  revealed  truths  could  not  have 
been  humanly  originated  nor  discovered  by  reason, 
and  which  cannot  be  improved  upon  nor  rendered 
obsolete  nor  superseded ;  that  system  whose  name  has 
become  a  synonym  for  civilization,  and  which  has 
organized  and  munificently  endowed  the  great  char- 
ities of  the  world;  which  is  in  favor  with  a  large 
majority  of  the  ripest  scholars  of  this  century,  and 
to  the  propagation  of  which  Christian  men  have  con- 
secrated millions  of  their  wealth,  and  whose  doc- 
trines have  raised  the  fallen,  reclaimed  the  vicious, 
comforted  the  sorrowing,  inspired  the  living  and 
soothed  the  dying.  I  say,  you  must  admit  that  this 
system  called  Christianity  may  be  true.  How  unrea- 
sonable, then,  is  your  position  of  determined  indif- 
ference to  the  requirements  of  Christianity  because 
you  do  not  know  it  to  be  true,  while  on  the  other 
hand,  you  cannot  know  it  to  be  false!  How  rash  to 
act  exactly  as  if  it  were  false,  because  it  may  be  false, 
rather  than  act  as  if  it  were  true,  because  it  may  be 
true.  Why  risk  what  may  be  your  supreme  and 
everlasting  well-being  upon  wrhat  may  prove  the 
fatal  side  of  an  uncertainty  !  Consider  religion  first,  as 
affecting  this  life  only.  If  "  man  was  made  to  glorify 
God  and  enjoy  him  forever ;  "  if  "  godliness  is  profit- 
able unto  all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life  that 
now  is;  "  if  even  temporal  good  "  be  added  unto  those 
who  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  right- 
eousness;" if  "all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
them  that  love  God;"  if  "faith  is  a  living  power 
from  God,"  the  natural  exercise  of  our  highest  facul- 


141 


ties  and  the  grandest  inspiration  to  noble  endeavors ; 
if  men  "  through  faith  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought 
righteousness,  obtained  promises  and  out  of  weak- 
ness were  made  strong ;  "  if  "  this  is  the  victory  that 
overcometh  the  (present,  natural)  world,  even  faith  " 
in  the  eternal,  supernatural  world,  and  if  the  Chris- 
tian religion  is  humanity's  great  essential  and  richest 
experience  and  crowning  glory — then  how  fearful  the 
immediate  loss  befalling  the  ungodly,  unbelieving, 
irreligious  man !  Nor  is  this  loss  offset  by  any  profit 
accruing  to  the  sinner  from  his  prayerlessness,  pro- 
fanity and  other  worldliness.  By  these  very  things 
he  forfeits  the  now,  if  not  the  hereafter — this  present 
world,  if  not  that  which  is  to  come.  This  sad  cry  of 
the  worldly-minded  man,  after  he  has  tried  all  earth 
has  to  offer,  must  be,  "Vanity  of  vanities!  All  is 
vanity  !  "    And  his  heart  must  be 

"  An  aching  void, 
The  world  can  never  fill." 

But  how  much  greater  does  the  mistake  appear 
when  viewed  in  the  light  of  eternity,  if  there  be  to  us 
an  eternity  !  O,  if  there  be  a  God,  and  if  Jesus  Christ 
be  His  son  and  our  Saviour,  and  if  the  Bible  be  God's 
word,  and  if  it  be  a  crime  to  disobey  God  and  reject 
His  son  and  disbelieve  His  word  ;  and  if  our  conduct 
here  shall  determine  our  condition  in  the  life  to 
come!  If  the  heaven  of  God  shall  be  the  everlasting 
home  of  His  faithful  children,  and  the  hell  of  demons 
be  the  prison-house  of  the  disobedient,  then  how 
awful  a  mistake  is  a  life  of  irreverence  and  practical 


142  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


atheism !  A  mistake  incomparably  greater  than  we 
can  believe  the  opposite  could  be  even  were  Chris- 
tianity untrue.  Why  not  risk  erring  on  the  safe  side 
of  this,  to  you,  doubtful  question  ?  And  why  not 
presume  upon  the  higher  hypothesis  of  man's  spirit- 
ual and  immortal  nature,  rather  than  upon  the  lower 
and  debasing  one  that  he  is  "  like  the  brutes  that 
perish ; "  especially,  when  to  act  on  this  lower  one 
is  the  only  possible  dangerous  course  ?  For  if  man  is 
only  a  highly  endowed  intellectual  animal  with  no 
future  life  awaiting  the  close  of  this,  then  there  can  be 
no  post-mortem  consequences  of  this  life,  whether  well 
or  ill  spent.  But  should  the  sequel  prove  man's  im- 
mortality and  future  rewardableness  true,  and  no 
one  knows  that  it  may  not,  then  piety  assumes  an 
infinite  importance  no  wise  man  may  disregard. 

In  view  of  man's  ignorance  of  the  subjects  of 
revelation,  and  of  the  vast  interests  possibly  involved, 
it  is  quite  plain  that  the  only  attitude  becoming  even 
the  most  intelligent  and  least  religious  skeptic  is  one 
of  cautious,  reverent  inquiry — "  a  serious,  practical 
apprehension  that  Christianity  may  be  true — an 
awful  solicitude  about  religion,  whether  natural  or 
revealed,  such  as  to  turn  men's  eyes  to  every  degree 
of  new  light  which  may  be  had,  from  whatever  sicte 
it  comes ;  and  to  induce  them  to  refrain,  in  the  mean- 
time, from  all  immoralities  and  live  in  the  conscien- 
tious practice  of  every  common  virtue.  Especially 
are  they  bound  to  keep  at  the  greatest  distance  from 
all  dissolute  profaneness,  for  this  the  nature  of  the 
case  forbids ;  and  to  treat  with  highest  reverence  a 


If."  143 


matter  upon  which  their  own  whole  interest  and 
being  depend."  The  sneer  of  ridicule  and  the  cavil 
of  the  lighthearted  are  out  of  place  here.  Laughter 
here  is  "  the  laughter  of  fools."  Questions  of  life  and 
death,  of  serious  and  eternal  interests,  are  now  consid- 
ering. "  Put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet,"  poor 
agnostic,  "  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  (may  be) 
holy  ground."  Bare  your  brow  and  open  your  heart 
and  lift  your  eyes  to  the  self- revealing  God.  Walk 
toward  the  light,  be  it  ever  so  dim.  Pray !  Yes,  pray  I 
If  not  with  confidence  then  in  despair,  as  did  the 
dying  atheist,  "  If  there  be  any  God,  I  pray  that  He 
may  have  mercy  on  my  soul !  "  Say  in  your  heart 
"  To  whom  shall  we  go  ?  "  In  utter  desperation  com- 
mit yourself,  your  soul,  your  all,  to  even  the  "  un- 
known God."  What  else  can  you  do  ?  Where  else 
can  you  go  ?  Go  ask  the  infidel  what  boon  he  brings 
us,  what  balm  "  for  aching  hearts  he  can  reveal." 

Do  you  say,  "  I  have  no  faith."  You  had  better 
go  without  faith  than  never  go  at  all.  Have  you  the 
sincere  desire  to  know  God  and  to  do  His  blessed 
will  ?  Then  to  you  He  will  give  the  faith,  and  He 
says,  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me,  I  will  in  nowise 
cast  out."  Come  and  see.  Prove  Him.  You  may 
know  "  that  He  is  a  rewarder  of  all  them  that  dili- 
gently seek  Him." 

"  I  can  but  perish  if  I  go, 
I  am  resolved  to  try ; 
For  if  I  stay  away,  I  know 
I  shall  forever  die." 


144  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


DARK  DAYS-MAN'S  VIEW  AND  GOD'S 
VIEW  OF  CALAMITIES. 

By  Rev.  Jesse  H.  Page, 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  (M.  E.  C,  S.). 


"  All  these  things  are  against  me."   Genesis  lxii :  36. 

The  incidents  given  in  the  Bible  of  the  lives  of 
Jacob  and  his  twelve  sons  will  never  cease  to  stir  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  the  thoughtful  to  their  profound- 
est  depths.  The  varied  experiences  through  which 
they  were  called  to  pass,  and  their  bearing  under 
them,  are  delineated  so  clearly  and  in  a  manner  so 
true  to  nature  as  to  make  us  feel  that  the  ties  of  kin- 
ship that  bind  us  to  them  are  very  close,  and  that 
when  we  study  their  lives  we  are  holding  commu- 
nion, not  with  imaginary  characters,  but  with  beings 
in  actual  life. 

Jacob  and  Simeon,  Judah,  Joseph  and  Benjamin 
were  men  "  subject  to  like  passions  as  we  are,"  and 
also  capable  of  the  same  joys  and  sorrows. 

Subject:  Man's  vieiv  and  God's  view  of  what  are 
called  calamities  of  this  life. 

It  is  said  that  calamities  always  come  in  groups — 
never  singly.  This  is  illustrated  in  the  case  of  Job.  In 
the  midst  of  great  prosperity,  described  by  himself, 
29th  chapter,  2d  to  23d  verses — "  In  the  days  when 
God  preserved  me;  when  his  candle  shined  upon 
my  head,"  etc.-^-evil  tidings  came  to  him  from  all 
quarters  and  in  rapid  succession  : 


Dark  Days. 


145 


1.  "The  oxen  were  plowing  and  the  asses  feeding 
beside  them,  and  the  Sabeans  fell  upon  them  and 
took  them  away;  Yea,  and  they  have  slain  thy  ser- 
vants with  the  edge  of  the  sword."    Job  i :  14,  15. 

2.  "  While  he  was  yet  speaking,"  another  comes 
with  the  news  that  "The  fire  of  God  is  fallen  from 
heaven  (lightning)  and  hath  burned  up  the  sheep 
and  servants,  and  consumed  them."    i :  16. 

3.  "  While  he  was  yet  speaking,"  another  messen- 
ger comes  with  the  news  that  "  The  Chaldeans  made 
out  three  bands  and  fell  upon  the  camels  and  car- 
ried them  away,  and  slew  the  servants  with  the  edge 
of  the  sword." 

4.  "  While  he  was  yet  speaking,  there  came  also 
another  and  said,  Thy  sons  and  thy  daughters  were 
eating  and  drinking  wine  in  their  eldest  brother's 
house:  and,  behold,  there  came  a  great  wind  from 
the  wilderness  (cyclone),  and  smote  the  four  corners 
of  the  house,  and  it  fell  upon  the  young  men,  and 
they  are  dead."    i:  18,  19. 

5.  Before  he  had  time  to  recover  from  the  shock, 
he  himself  is  afflicted  with  a  dreadful  disease — pain- 
ful and  loathsome,  and  of  long  duration;  and 

6.  Worse  than  all,  the  only  one  left  to  whom  he 
could  look  for  comfort  and  strength  proves  faithless  in 
this  his  hour  of  trial,  and  chides  him  for  his  constant 
trust  in  God:  "  Dost  thou  still  retain  thine  integrity? 
Curse  God  and  die."    ii :  9. 

"  Nothing,"  says  a  writer,  "  makes  the  ungodly  so 
angry  as  to  see  the  godly  under  trial  not  angry." 


10 


146  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


I.  In  the  case  of  Jacob,  "  all  these  things  "  formed 
what  he  regarded  a  combination  of  adversities  : 

1.  There  was  a  grievous  famine  throughout  the 
land  in  which  he  lived.  "  The  heaven  was  brass 
overhead  and  the  earth  underneath  was  iron."  Deut. 
xxviii:  23.  The  question  of  bread  was  a  serious 
one,  and  great  suffering,  if  not  actual  starvation, 
seemed  inevitable.  How  grateful  should  we  be  who 
are  blessed  with  such  bountiful  supplies ! 

2.  The  evil  conduct  of  his  sons,  most  of  them,  was  a 
source  of  constant  grief.  All  parents  are  vitally 
affected  by  the  deportment  of  their  children.  "See- 
ing that  his  life  is  bound  up  in  the  lad's  life"  is 
applicable  to  many  parents  besides  Jacob.  "  A  fool- 
ish son  is  a  grief  to  his  father,  and  bitterness  to  her 
that  bare  him."  Prov.  xvii:  25.  "He  that  wasteth 
his  father,  and  chaseth  away  his  mother,  is  a  son 
that  causeth  shame  and  bringeth  reproach."  Prov. 
xix :  26.    Such  were  the  sons  of  Jacob. 

The  old  Mosaic  law  was  extremely  rigid  in  such 
cases :  "  If  a  man  have  a  stubborn  and  rebellious  son, 
which  will  not  obey  the  voice  of  his  father,"  etc.,  "all 
the  men  of  the  city  shall  stone  him  with  stones,  that 
he  die."  Deut.  xxi :  18-21.  "  Whoso  curseth  his 
father  or  his  mother,  his  lamp  shall  be  put  out  in 
obscure  darkness."  Prov.  xx :  20.  "  The  eye  that 
mocketh  at  his  father,  and  despiseth  to  obey  his 
mother,  the  ravens  of  the  valley  shall  pick  it  out, 
and  the  young  eagles  shall  eat  it."  Prov.  xxx  :  17. 

The  other  side.  "  The  father  of  the  righteous  shall 
greatly  rejoice."  Prov.  xxiii :  24.  "  I  have  no  greater 


Dark  Days. 


147 


joy  than  to  hear  that  my  children  walk  in  truth." 
John  iii:  4.    Jacob's  sons  gave  their  father  trouble. 

3.  The  wounds  produced  by  what  to  him  for 
years  was  the  tragic  death  of  his  favorite  son,  Joseph, 
had  not  been  healed  during  the  long  period  of 
twenty-two  years.  That  torn  and  bloody  coat — all 
that  remained  to  him  of  his  beloved  boy — kept 
before  his  mind  continually  the  soul-harrowing 
thought  that "  Joseph  is,  without  doubt,  rent  in  pieces 
and  devoured  by  an  evil  beast."  How  could  he  sup- 
press his  grief  while  the  memory  of  this  terrible  thing 
remained. 

4.  But  the  climax  of  his  troubles  was  reached  when 
Benjamin,  the  youngest,  must  be  taken  away.  Simeon 
was  held  as  a  hostage — a  prisoner— and  could  be 
released  only  when  Benjamin  should  go  as  a  proof 
of  their  statements  respecting  their  father  and  his 
sons.  His  experience  with  his  sons  gave  him  good 
grounds  of  fear  for  the  safety  of  his  child.  No  won- 
der he  shuddered  at  the  very  thought  of  seeing  him 
go  off  with  them.  That  was  a  trying  ordeal  through 
which  the  gray-haired  patriarch  was  called  to  pass 
when  he  cried  out  in  anguish  of  spirit,  "  Me  have  ye 
bereaved  of  my  children  ;  Joseph  is  not,  and  Simeon 
is  not,  and  ye  will  take  Benjamin  away ;  all  these 
things  are  against  me." 

But  the  alternative  was,  Benjamin  must  go,  or 
starvation  must  come.  That  was  an  honest  declara- 
tion— he  felt  that  "all  these  things  were  against 
him."  It  was  a  natural  conclusion  to  reach,  stand- 
ing face  to  face  with  the  present  in  the  shadow  of  the 
bitter  experience  of  the  past.    You  and  I,  and  all  of 


148  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


us,  under  similar  circumstances,  would  feel  and 
speak  as  he  did. 

II.  But  there  is  another  side  to  this  picture. 

God,  whose  "  thoughts  are  not  our  thoughts,  and 
whose  ways  are  not  ours,"  looked  at  all  these  things 
in  an  entirely  different  light,  and  designed  the 
accomplishment  of  a  grand  and  glorious  purpose, 
which  did  not  appear  at  all  to  one  looking  on  from 
a  human  standpoint.  His  hand,  unseen,  was  "mak- 
ing the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him,"  and  causing 
all  these  bitter  experiences  of  His  servants-to  "  work 
together  for  their  good."  Very  soon  the  joyous  news 
was  brought  to  the  grief-smitten  patriarch,  "  Joseph 
is  yet  alive,  and  he  is  governor  over  all  the  land  of 
Egypt."  Joseph,  for  whom  he  had  grieved  as  one 
dead  for  twenty-two  years,  yet  alive!  The  news,  he 
thought,  was  too  good  to  be  true.  No  wonder  the 
sad  heart  of  the  old  father  fainted  under  the  weight 
of  joy.  When  assured  by  the  long  line  of  Egyptian 
wagons  which  his  now  highly  honored  son  had  sent 
to  take  him  and  his  household  from  the  famine- 
stricken  land  to  one  of  plenty  "  his  spirit  revived," 
and  he  gave  utterance  to  his  overflowing  joy,  "  It  is 
enough  :  Joseph  my  son  is  yet  alive ;  I  will  go  and 
see  him  before  I  die.    Gen.,  xlv:  27,  28. 

It  is  thus,  brethren,  with  all  God's  children  under 
those  experiences  which  we  call  adversities  or  calam- 
ities, sufferings,  afflictions  and  bereavements.  These 
things  are  not  against  us,  as  we  imagine.  None  of 
these  things  "  for  the  present  seem  to  be  joyous,  but 


Dark  Days. 


149 


grievous,  nevertheless  afterward  (often  very  soon) 
they  yield  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness  to 
those  that  are  exercised  thereby."  Heb.  xiirll. 
"  Weeping  may  endure  for  a  night,  but  joy  cometh 
in  the  morning."  Ps.  xxx  :  5.  How  often  when  the 
clouds  gather,  when  men  may  combine  against  us, 
and  God  seems  to  forsake  us,  do  we  feel  and  say  with 
Jacob:  "  All  these  things  are  against  me."  We  should 

"  Judge  not  the  Lord  by  feeble  sense, 
But  trust  Him  for  His  grace ; 
Behind  a  frowning  providence 
He  hides  a  smiling  face." 

David,  "in  a  great  strait,"  said,  "Let  us  fall  now 
into  the  hand  of  the  Lord  ;  for  his  mercies  are  great ; 
and  let  me  not  fall  into  the  hand  of  man."  2  Sam. 
xxiv:  14.  But  for  the  fact  taught  in  the  Bible  that 
God  controls  all  things  and  makes  them  "  work 
together  for  good  to  them  that  love  him,"  we  would 
sometimes  sink  into  despondency  and  give  up  the 
struggle.  But  being  assured  that  He  can  and  does 
convert  evils  into  blessings;  that  He  "  makes  the  wrath 
of  man  to  praise  him,  and  will  restrain  the  remain- 
der of  wrath,"  and  "  make  even  our  enemies  to  be  at 
peace  with  us,"  let  us  "  lift  up  the  hands  which  hang 
down  and  the  feeble  knees,"  and  be  "  strong  in  the 
strength  which  God  gives  through  his  beloved  Son." 
Let  us  remember  that  while  of  ourselves  we  can  do 
nothing,  yet  we  can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
who  strengtheneth  us.  "  He  hath  said  I  will  never 
leave  thee  nor  fail  thee."  "  God  is  our  refuge  and 
strength,  a  very  present  help  in  trouble.  Therefore 


150 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


will  not  we  fear,  though  the  earth  be  removed,  and 
though  the  mountains  be  carried  into  the  midst  of 
the  sea,  though  the  waters  thereof  roar  and  be 
troubled,  though  the  mountains  shake  with  the  swell- 
ing thereof."  "  There  is  a  river,  the  streams  whereof 
make  glad  the  city  of  God.  God  is  in  the  midst  of 
her ;  she  shall  not  be  moved :  God  shall  help  her 
and  that  right  early.  The  heathen  raged,  the  king- 
doms were  moved ;  he  uttered  his  voice,  the  earth 
melted.  The  Lord  of  hosts  is  with  us ;  the  God  of 
Jacob  is  our  refuge."  In  this  refuge  let  us  find 
security  and  rest  until  the  storms  be  overpast. 


THE  RICH  FOOL. 
By  Rev.  J.  F.  Butt, 

Of  the  North  Carolina  Local  Ministers'  Conference. 


"But  God  said  unto  him,  Thou  fool  this  night  thy  soul  shall  be 
required  of  thee,  then  whose  shall  those  things  be  which  thou  hast  pro- 
vided? 

"  So  is  he  that  layeth  up  treasures  for  himself,  and  is  not  rich  toward 
God."— Luke  xii:  20,  21. 

There  are  many  kinds  of  fools  in  the  world,  but 
the  biggest  fool  of  all  is  the  rich  fool. 

Now  we  will  assert  right  here  that  it  is  not  neces- 
sary that  riches  shall  absolutely  cause  a  man  to  be 
irreligious,  nor  is  it  necessary  that  a  man  shall  be 
poor  in  order  to  be  good,  although  much  the  larger 
proportion  of  the  best  men  in  the  world  belong  to  the 
class  who  may  be  called  poor,  or  who  may  be  in 
moderate  circumstances  in  life. 


The  Rich  Fool. 


151 


Then,  on  the  other  hand,  a  very  small  proportion 
of  rich  men  in  the  world  are  noted  for  their  liberal- 
ity, or  their  zeal  in  working  for  the  souls  of  their 
fellow-men,  nor  can  there  be  selected  from  that  class 
many  who  are  noted  for  their  deep  piety,  and  we 
fully  realize  the  truth  of  God's  word  found  in  Matt, 
xxiv:  28,  "  For  wheresoever  the  carcass  is  there  will 
the  eagles  be  gathered  together;"  and  Matt,  vi:  21  and 
Luke  xii:  34,  "  For  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will 
your  heart  be  also."  The  observation  and  experi- 
ence of  one  of  the  most  celebrated  divines,  who  was 
as  well  acquainted  with  the  inhabitants  of  New  York 
as  any  man  in  America,  said,  with  its  1,700,000 
inhabitants,  he*  could  count  on  bis  ten  fingers  every 
man  there  who  was  rich  and  a  worker  for  Christ. 

The  fact  is,  in  order  to  accumulate  a  large  fortune 
it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  no  time  should  be 
taken  up  in  anything  except  in  deep  and  perpetual 
thought  and  labor  and  worldly  wisdom  in  accumu- 
lation by  the  best  of  judgment  and  business  sagacity, 
and  investing  so  as  to  keep  and  increase  what  has 
been  made.  And  it  is  a  question  not  fully  settled 
whether,  by  real  honesty,  any  man  can  keep  the 
golden  rule  and  do  unto  others  what  he  would  have 
them  do  unto  him  and  accumulate  a  large  fortune. 

As  a  large  wealth  coming  to  one  man  must  neces- 
sarily deplete  the  possessions  of  another,  and  ten 
thousand  dollars  or  more  made  by  one  man  must  be 
supplied  from  the  pockets  of  the  moderate  in  worldly 
possessions,  extortion  must  be  put  in  operation  in 
order  to  satisfy  the  aspirations  and  avarice  of  the  rich 


152 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


and  continually  growing  rich  man.  In  fact,  as  a 
general  rule,  men  grow  rich  by  making  and  keeping 
others  poorer. 

The  proprietors  of  factories,  as  a  general  thing, 
declare  large  dividends  every  six  or  twelve  months, 
and  have  frequently  to  double  the  dimensions  of 
their  buildings ;  and  wear  purple  and  fine  linen  and 
dwell  in  palaces,  and  move  in  every  respect  in  a 
lordly  style.  And  all  this  has  to  come  out  of  the 
hard  earnings  of  women  and  children  who  are  de- 
pendent on  their  situation  to  get  not  much  more  # 
than  the  husks  which  hardly  the  swine  would  eat. 
The  scantiest  fare  and  the  most  constant  economy 
keeps  them  just  alive.  May  not  such  an  one  be  said 
to  be  a  rich  fool  ?  Great  riches  are  not  necessary  to 
happiness,  nor  do  large  accumulations  satisfy  the 
cravings  of  an  immortal  soul.  The  fact  is,  any  man 
who  imagines  that  the  soul,  the  breath  of  God  in 
man,  can  satisfy  itself  with  anything  short  of  spirit- 
ual and  religious  food,  is  not  wise,  and  is  just  as  much 
a  fool  as  the  man  spoken  of  in  our  text. 

Now  we  will  notice  some  of  the  misconceptions 
and  follies  of  this  man. 

1.  Talking  to  his  soul  and  making  a  misrepresen- 
tation that  led  him  into  false  and  foolish  decisions. 

2.  It  was  an  untruth  in  saying  that  it  was  for  many 
years.  A  man  is  sadly  deceived  when  he  persuades 
himself  that  he  can  live  surely  many  days,  when 
Job  says  our  lives  or  days  are  swifter  than  a  weaver's 
shuttle  and  spent  without  hope. 

The  man  who  lived  longer  than  any  man  other 
than  himself,  at  the  age  of  969  years  died  and  could 


The  Rich  Fool. 


153 


not  have  said  that  he  would  live  many  days,  for  that 
long  life,  in  comparison  to  the  never-ending  ages  of 
eternity  is  but  as  a  grain  of  sand  on  the  ocean  shore 
in  comparison  to  the  many  millions  there. 

But  if  it  had  been  true  that  he  could  have  lived 
many  thousands  of  ages  it  would  not  have  brought 
ease  to  him  in  this  world,  for  rest  and  ease  are  no- 
where to  be  found  here,  for  the  poet  has  inquired  for 
it  and  asked, 

"  Oh  !  where  shall  rest  be  found, 
Rest  for  the  weary  soul, — 

Not  in  ocean's  depths,  or  even  between  the  poles, 

For  the  world  can  never  give  the  bliss  for  which  we  sigh." 

Oh  !  how  foolish  it  is,  or  was,  in  him  to  think  that 
eating  and  drinking  and  being  merry  was  satisfying 
the  claims  that  God  had  on  him  in  this  state  of  pro- 
bation or  trial. 

How  fully  satisfied  he  was,  when  it  was  too  late, 
that  he  had  made  a  woeful  mistake.  That  in  all 
his  worldly  prosperity  he  had  made  an  unwise  choice, 
and  must  leave  it  all,  and  that  he  would  never  see 
another  day;  that  another  sun  would  never  rise  on 
him ;  that  he  had  had  his  good  things  in  this  life — 
by  his  own  choice ;  that  this  night  would  seal  his 
everlasting  destiny ;  that  soul  and  body  must  part — 
"  this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee."  Days 
and  nights  of  deep  anxiety  and  industrious  labor 
had  crowned  him  with  success  such  as  the  world 
admires.  He  was  doubtless  honored  and  respected 
and  praised  for  what  they  call  success.  Oh  !  how 
many  times  have  we  heard  it  said  of  such  an  one  in 


154  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


great  praise,  "He  started  on  a  few  shillings;  just  see 
how  he  has  succeeded — why  could  not  I  have  been 
so  fortunate? "  I  knew  a  man  years  ago  who,  by 
farmiug,  got  very  rich — had  a  religious  and  pious 
wife — who  was  noted  for  his  benevolence,  even  in 
the  erection  of  a  splendid  church  to  which  she  be- 
longed, and  who  was  liberal,  as  the  world  would  say, 
in  feeding  the  poor  from  his  table ;  at  all  the  pro- 
tracted meetings;  but  whose  time  was  mostly  taken 
up  in  making  a  splendid  farm  and  in  the  erection 
of  a  magnificent  residence.  To  all  human  appear- 
ances, he  looked  as  if  he  might  live  many  years  to 
enjoy  his  large  accumulations.  He  was  worldly-wise, 
admired  and  honored  far  and  near  for  his  manage- 
ment. But  although  he  attended  all  the  services,  in 
his  fine  carriage,  to  gratify  his  wife,  he  could  not  be 
induced  to  give  his  heart  to  God  and  be  a  Christian. 
When  one  of  his  servants  was  sick  he  gave  personal 
attention  in  nursing,  and  in  passing  from  his  com- 
fortable chamber  at  night  to  the  apartment  of  the 
sick  servant  to  see  the  medicine  punctually  admin- 
istered he  took  cold,  which  settled  on  his  lungs,  and 
in  a  few  days  his  soul  and  body  was  separated.  It 
was  said  unto  him.  "Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul 
shall  be  required  of  thee."  He  sent  for  his  wife's 
pastor  to  converse  with  him,  and  said,  in  his  dying 

hours,  "  Oh  !  Mr.  S  ,  if  I  had  only  been  a  poor 

man,  I  could  have  had  time  to  prepare  to  die;  but 
I  am  unready  and  unprepared  to  go.  Oh !  what  a 
fool  I  have  been — and  there's  none  to  dispute  it!  " 

Then  to  whom  were  those  things  to  belong  which 
he  had  provided?    He  understood  law,  and  long 


The  Rich  Fool. 


155 


before  his  death  wrote  his  own  will  on  many  pages 
of  foolscap;  and  though  his  legal  knowledge  would 
prevent  any  litigation,  yet  years  and  years  passed 
away  before  it  was  settled,  but  not  as  was  his  anxious 
desire  that  it  should  be.  So  it  will  be  with  all  of  us 
who  are  laying  up  treasures  for  ourselves  and  are  not 
rich  toward  God. 

"  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart  there  is  no  God." 
He  that  trusteth  in  his  own  heart  is  a  fool.  The 
man  who  dotes  on  long  life  and  does  not  give  his  heart 
to  God  is  a  fool.  The  man  who  thinks  he  can  be 
happy  in  worldly  prosperity  without  religion  is  a 
fool.  Fools,  as  we  live  only  for  self.  Fools  at  death, 
when  we  remember  what  we  have  done  in  the  neg- 
let  of  the  future.  Fools  when  we  stand  at  the  throne 
of  judgment  and  hear  the  dreadful  sentence  of  "De- 
part, ye  accursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for 
the  devil  and  his  angels."  We  will  know  we  have 
been  fools,  when  in  full  sight  of  heaven  we  shall  see 
and  realize  all  the  joys  that  others  have,  like  Dives 
did  Lazarus,  and  we  cut  off  by  a  gulf  between  heaven 
and  hell  that  can  afford  no  beneficial  communication 
between  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  conditions  of  souls. 

And,  in  conclusion  we  will  say,  that  through  the 
endless  cycles  of  eternity  we  will  cry,  fools!  fools! 
fools!  we  have  been  in  yonder  world ;  like  Judas,  it 
would  be  better  for  us  if  we  had  never  been  born. 
I  would  rather  be  the  most  despised  reptile  that 
crawls  on  earth  than  to  be  unconverted  and  unsanc- 
tified  on  earth.  There  is  not  a  reptile  in  hell.  "  The 
wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell  with  all  the  nations 
that  forget  God." 


156 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


THE  LOVE  OF  CHRIST. 
By  Rev.  J.  H.  Cordon,  D.  D.,  pastor  at  Oxford,* 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  (M.  E.  C,  S.). 

"  Thy  love  to  me  was  wonderful."— II  Samuel  i :  26. 

These  words  formed  a  part  of  the  mobt  touching 
eulogium  which  the  profoundest  grief  and  finest 
genius  ever  uttered.  On  reading  it,  one  is  left  in 
doubt  of  which  art  David  was  the  greatest  master, 
whether  it  was  in  the  use  of  the  pen,  the  harp,  or  the 
sword. 

Jonathan  found  in  him  one  worthy  to  preserve  his 
memory  and  record  his  virtues,  and  David's  genius 
has  preserved  these  like  fragrant  spikenard  in  a  box 
of  alabaster,  or,  as  I  have  seen,  a  drop  of  water 
shrined  within  the  crystal  walls  of  a  precious  stone. 

*Died  at  Oxford,  February,  1893. 


The  Love  of  Christ.  157 

It  is  due  the  Psalmist  to  remark  that  this  noble 
panegyric  does  no  less  honor  to  his  heart  than  to  his 
head.  Remember  that  the  death  of  Saul  has  re- 
moved the  only  obstacle  that  stood  between  David 
and  the  throne,  and  had  rid  him  of  an  enemy  that  had 
pursued  him  for  some  years  with  rancorous  and  un- 
relenting hatred.  It  is  a  common  and  a  just  saying 
that  we  should  say  no  evil  of  the  dead.  They  are 
not  here  to  defend  themselves.  And,  unless  where 
great  interests  are  involved,  their  ashes  should  not 
be  disturbed.  In  his  circumstances,  the  utmost  re- 
quired of  David  would  have  been  to  preserve  a  de- 
vout and  becoming  silence  about  Saul — burying  all 
recollections  of  him  in  the  grave.  But  he  was  inca- 
pable of  this.  He  was  ca§t  in  a  finer  mould  ;  made 
of  nobler  metal.  His  generous  heart,  forgiving  and 
forgetting  every  wrong,  warmed  at  the  recollections 
of  those  early  happy  days  when  the  King  drew  the 
shepherd  boy  from  obscurity,  received  him  into  the 
bosom  of  his  family — and  when,  harp  in  hand,  he 
threw  the  chain  of  music  over  Saul's  stormy  passions, 
bidding  waves  be  still.  David  buries  Saul's  faults 
in  the  grave ;  he  leaves  the  dross  to  lie  undisturbed 
among  the  cold  embers;  he  brings  out  the  gold,  the 
finer  elements  of  Saul's  character,  and  without  im- 
puting to  him  virtues  he  never  possessed,  he  tells  all 
the  good  of  Saul  he  can,  and  crowms  his  memory 
with  the  honors  due  to  a  King  —  a  kind-hearted 
father,  and  a  man  as  brave  as  ever  faced  a  foe.  "  From 
the  blood  of  the  slain  " — he  sings — "  from  the  fat  of  the 
mighty,  the  bow  of  Jonathan  turned  not  back,  and 


158  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


the  sword  of  Saul  returned  not  empty.  Saul  and 
Jonathan  were  lovely  in  their  lives  and  in  their  death 
they  were  not  divided.  They  were  swifter  than  eagles, 
they  were  stronger  than  lions."  But  Jonathan  is  the 
grand  subject  of  this  beautiful  lament — the  principal 
figure  in  the  canvas.  In  some  respects  Jonathan  stands 
without  a  rival  in  all  history,  sacred  or  profane. 
Had  we  knowu  him  better  we  might  have  thought 
less  of  him,  we  would  have  found  some  fault  in  him, 
and  that  it  was  true  of  him,  as  of  the  best  of  fallen 
men,  that  the  brightest  sun  is  dimmed  by  spots;  yet 
there  is  no  fault  recorded  of  Jonathan,  and  confer- 
ring on  him  more  honor  than  on  anyone  else  whose 
name  stands  in  this  sacred  book,  God  has  not  left  a 
stain  to  blot  his  memory.  If  there  ever  was  friend- 
ship in  this  world,  pure,  unalloyed  by  any  inferior 
metal,  disinterested,  free  of  envy,  without  any  ele- 
ment of  selfishness,  incapable  of  harboring  a  sus- 
picious thought,  it  had  glowed  in  the  bosom  that 
now  lay  cold  on  Gilboa's  lonely  mountain.  Battle 
spear  never  pierced  such  a  generous  heart,  nor  had 
war  ever  such  a  graceful  victim  offered  on  her  blood- 
stained shrine.  Men  never  possessed  a  friend  such 
as  David  lost  in  Jonathan.  If  ever  man  loved  a 
neighbor  as  he  did  himself,  that  man  was  Jonathan; 
and  no  one  with  a  head  and  heart  can  read  his  tragic 
history  without  feeling  that  he  was  worthy  of  this 
extraordinary  but  not  extravagant  laudation,  "Thy 
love  to  me  was  wonderful." 

But  who  can  read  the  words  of  my  text  without, 
thinking  of  a  greater  than  Jonathan  ?    As  we  muse 


The  Love  of  Christ. 


159 


on  these  words  Gilboa  vanishes  and  Calvary  rises  to 
view.  The  battle  scene,  with  Jonathan  standing  like 
a  lion  at  bay,  or  faint  from  loss  of  blood  sinking 
beneath  his  wounds,  shifts,  and  I  see  Jesus  standing 
alone  amid  the  impious  crowd,  or  fainting  beneath 
His  cross  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem.  The  hill 
where,  in  the  pale  moonlight,  all  stiff  and  stark  and 
bloody,  Jonathan  lies  surrounded  by  heaps  of  dead, 
his  face  to  heaven  and  his  foot  to  the  foe  that  have 
fallen  before  his  arm,  gives  place  to  another  scene. 
A  tall  cross  tops  the  summit  of  Mount  Calvary,  and 
the  sun's  level  beams  shine  on  the  drooping  head 
and  mangled,  bloody  form  of  the  Son  of  God.  To 
Him  these  words  best  belong.  We  hang  the  harp  of 
David  on  that  Cross,  and  Jonathan  himself  consent- 
ing, we  take  this  garland  from  his  brow  to  weave  it 
into  the  crown  of  thorns,  saying,  as  we  turn  to  Jesus, 
"  Thy  love  to  me  was  wonderful." 

I.  And  the  love  of  Christ  to  us  is  wonderful  because 
there  was  nothing  in  us  lovely. 
One  law  of  our  nature  is,  we  cannot  behold  the 
beautiful  without  admiring  it.  Another  is  that  so 
far  as  earthly  objects  are  concerned,  and  apart  from 
the  beauty  of  holiness,  we  cannot  help  loving  what 
is  lovely,  and  regarding  it  with  affection.  Our  affec- 
tions are  drawn  to  an  attractive  object  as  naturally 
as  iron  to  a  lodestone.  God  made  us  to  love,  and 
when  brought  near  to  such  an  object,  our  feelings 
entwine  themselves  around  it  as  the  soft  and  pliant 
tendrils  of  the  vine  do  around  the  support  it  clothes 
with  leaves  and  hangs  with  purple  clusters. 


160 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


Without  detracting  from  Jonathan's  merits,  it 
must  be  owned  that,  however  wonderful  the  love  was 
he  bestowed  upon  David,  it  was  not  bestowed  on  an 
unworthy  object.  One  brave  man  loves  another. 
In  the  old  days  of  chivalry  men  honored  courage  in 
their  enemies,  loving  and  admiring  bravery  even 
when  in  arms  against  them.  And  it  is  not  wonder- 
ful at  all  in  the  sense  we  are  considering  it  that  the 
soul  of  Jonathan  was  kind  to  the  soul  of  David,  and 
Jonathan  loved  him  as  his  own  soul.  They  had 
much  in  common.  In  warlike  achievements,  in 
strong  affections,  in  generosity  of  temper,  in  genuine 
piety,  in  courage  that  dared  everything  and  was 
daunted  by  nothing,  these  brothers  in  arms  answered 
to  each  other  as  face  answereth  to  face  in  a  glass,  or  as 
I  have  seen  two  bright  drops  of  quicksilver  when 
brought  to  touch  each  other  run  into  one,  so  were 
Jonathan  and  David  united.  We  turn  now  from 
them  to  Christ  and  ourselves,  and  what  do  we  find  in 
man  to  win  the  love  of  Calvary.  The  day  that  saw 
Jonathan's  soul  knit  to  David's,  saw  David  in  arms 
fighting  his  father's  battles  and  saving  his  father's 
crown.  We  were  in  arms  too,  but  it  was  against  the 
right  and  against  God's  government ;  we  were  fight- 
ing too,  but  it  was  on  the  wrong  side — rebels  against 
God  in  the  ranks  of  the  devil.  It  is  not  enough  to 
say  there  was  nothing  lovely  in  us,  that  as  a  holy 
God  He  saw  nothing  in  us  to  love.  Sin,  that  abom- 
inable thing  which  He  hates,  the  seed  and  germ  of 
all  evil — a  thing  so  hateful  that  it  is  said  that  He 
cannot  look  on  it,  had  so  pervaded  the  nature  of 


The  Love  of  Christ. 


101 


every  individual  man,  and  the  whole  race  of  men, 
that  it  necessitated  God  to  abhor  His  own  creatures. 
Do  not  be  startled  at  the  expression ;  I  use  no  lan- 
guage stronger  than  I  can  justify.  Look  at  a  corpse, 
putrid,  bloated,  infecting  all  the  air,  every  feature  of 
humanity  shockingly  defaced,  the  bright  eye,  damask 
cheek,  sweet  lips,  the  lovely  form  changed  into  vilest 
loathsomeness,  a  banquet  to  worms,  which,  as  they 
creep  out  and  creep  in,  give  a  horrible  life  to  death. 
Were  the  dearest,  fondest  object  of  our  affections 
reduced  to  a  state  like  that,  how  would  we  throw  it 
shuddering  from  our  embraces,  and  call  in  pity  for  a 
grave  to  bury  our  dead.  This  is  a  fair  picture  of  the 
havoc  sin  hath  made  in  creatures  whom  He  made 
after  His  own  image.  The  heavens  are  not  clean  in 
His  sight;  He  charges  the  angels  with  folly.  Should 
we  wonder,  then,  that  fallen  man  is  abhorred  in  His 
sight  ?  Just  so  soon  as  man,  under  the  light  of  God's 
spirit,  sees  himself  aright,  he  abhors  himself — listen 
to  one  whose  words  will  find  an  echo  in  every  con- 
verted heart:  "  I  have  heard  of  thee  with  the  hearing 
of  the  ear,  but  now  my  eye  seeth  thee,  wherefore  I 
abhor  myself  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes." 

It  is  said  that  with  all  her  baseness,  her  duplicity, 
her  cruelty,  the  passions  and  crimes  that  have  left  an 
indelible  stain  on  her  memory,  Queen  Mary  had 
much  queenly  grace.  So  perfect  was  her  form,  her 
face  so  beautiful,  her  smiles  so  winning,  that  it  was 
only  men  cast  in  the  stern  mould  of  John  Knox 
that  could  resist  their  witchery.  But  in  sight  of  God's 
holiness,  sin  left  us  no  attractiveness.  There  was 
11 


162  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


nothing  but  human  misery  to  draw  down  divine 
mercy.  Sin  left  nothing  in  man  which  it  did  not 
touch,  and,  like  blow-flies,  whatever  it  touched  it 
tainted.  The  whole  man  was  affected — head,  heart, 
soul,  reason,  and  affections,  the  imagination  and  the 
will.  The  deadly  venom  of  the  serpent's  fang,  like 
a  subtle  poison  thrown  into  the  circulation,  was 
borne  throughout  all  the  frame.  If  it  be  true  of  all 
mankind  that  they  are  altogether  become  filthy,  true 
that  there  is  none  that  doeth  good,  no,  not  one,  true 
that  every  imagination  of  man's  heart  is  evil  contin- 
ually, then  sin  left  us  with  nothing  to  engage,  but 
everything  to  repel,  the  affections  of  a  holy  Saviour 
Salvation,  therefore,  must  be  all  grace,  and  the 
Saviour's  love  must  have  its  meetest  and  majestic 
emblem  in  the  sun  of  heaven.  Sustained  in  the  sky 
with  no  pillars  that  rest  on  the  earth  it  hangs  on 
nothing,  and  its  bright  beams,  unlike  the  stone,  the 
falling  rain,  the  blazing,  dying  meteor,  that  fall  to  the 
earth  by  virtue  of  its  attractions,  are  sent  forth  by  a 
power  within  itself.  So  with  love  divine — the  heal- 
ing beams  the  Son  of  Righteousness — by  His  mercy 
He  saves  us,  and  in  embracing,  not  the  lovely  but 
the  loathesome,  well  may  we  transfer  this  eulogy  to 
the  love  of  Jesus.    '''  Thy  love  to  me  was  wonderful." 

II.  The  love  of  Christ  to  us  is  wonderful  because  there 
was  nothing  in  us  loving. 

We  love  that  which  loves  us.  Such  is  our  nature. 
Love  sees  its  own  face  reflected  in  the  heart  of  another 
as  in  water  at  the  bottom  of  a  well.    We  cannot 


ffd    ■  'if' 

The  Love  of  Christ. 


163 


resist  what,loves  us,  it  matters  not  who  or  what  it  is — 
though  but  the  dog  that  barks  and  bounds  and 
wheels  in  joyous  circles  around  us  on  our  return, 
the  first  to  welcome  and  foremost  to  defend.  I  would 
hold  his  friendship^cheap  who  did  not  love  a  dog 
who  loved  him,  and  care  little  for  a  child  who  would 
not  drop  some  tears  on  the  grave  of  his  humble  but 
faithful  playmate.  Let  a  poor  dumb  creature  love 
us  and  we  are  drawn  to  it  in  return  by  a  law  of 
nature  as  irresistible  and  divine  as  that  which  draws 
a  stone  to  the  ground  or  makes  the  stream  flow 
onward  to  the  sea.  Whatever  secrets  this  fact  may 
unlock,  whatever  strange  and  singular  marriages  it 
may  explain,  it  does  not  open  the  mysteries  of  Cal- 
vary, it  does  not  explain  the  love  of  Christ.  I  have, 
indeed,  seen  some  that  had  abandoned  themselves 
to  a  life  of  vice  who  still  respected  virtue,  and  looked 
back  with  remorseful  regret  to  their  days  of  child- 
hood and  the  innocence  of  a  father's  home.  I  have 
seen  a  profligate  son  who  though  wringing  a  pious 
mother's  heart  and  bringing  her  gray  hairs  with  sor- 
row to  the  grave,  yet  loved  her.  Mourning  his  own 
failings,  he  returned  her  affection ;  yielding  to  sin, 
still  he  clung  to  his  mother  as  a  drowning  wretch  to 
a  piece  of  the  wreck  which  he  hopes  may  float  him 
to  the  shore.  Now,  if  our  love  of  goodness  had  sur- 
vived the  loss  of  it,  if  we  had  retained  any  love  to 
God  after  we  had  lost  His  image,  if  we  had  cast  some 
lingering  looks  on  Eden,  and  like  Absalom  felt 
pained  at  being  two  whole  years  in  Jerusalem  with- 
out being  admitted  into  his  father's  presence;  if  we 


164 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


had  been  grieved  at  God's  displeasure,  with  some 
goodly  vestiges  of  primeval  innocence,  Christ's  love  to 
us  would  not  have  been  so  wonderful.  But  there  was 
no  such  feeling  in  man  to  awaken  the  love  of  Christ. 
Hateful  man  is  by  nature  hating.  I  appeal  to  the 
unconverted:  Do  not  your  hearts  prove  that;  and 
those  who  have  been  converted  see  it  in  the  memory 
of  those  days,  on  which  they  now  look  back  with  hor- 
ror, wondering  how,  when  they  were  in  arms  against 
God,  trampling  on  His  laws,  despising  His  mercy, 
scorning  His  grace,  He  should  have  borne  with  them 
as  He  did.  "The  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against 
God."  "  Herein  is  love  indeed,  not  that  we  loved  God, 
but  that  he  loved  us."  "  God  commendeth  his  love  to 
us,  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for 
us."  And  what  is  graven  deep  in  our  hearts  and  writ- 
ten so  legibly  on  the  pages  of  the  Bible,  I  see  in  still 
more  affecting  characters  on  the  body  of  Him  who  sits 
throned  in  heaven.  More  than  wounded  for  our  trans- 
gressions, He  was  wounded  by  the  hand  of  the  trans- 
gressors. The  nail  prints  on  the  hands  that  our  Advo- 
cate holds  up  in  prayer  for  us,  and  that  scar  on  His 
side,  were  not  the  work  of  devils.  Inflicted  by  the 
hands  of  men,  they  are  the  marks  of  a  love  that 
throws  its  arms  around  enemies  ;  the  unloving  as 
well  as  the  unlovely,  hatred  as  well  as  loathesome- 
ness.  Oh!  for  such  love,  let  the  shining  throngs  that 
stand  before  Him  with  crowns  of  glory  and  in  the 
white  robes  of  victors  join  the  church  on  earth  and 
weave  these  wTords  into  the  anthems  of  the  skies, 
"Thy  love  to  us  was  wonderful." 


The  Love  of  Christ. 


165 


III.  This  love  is  wonderful  in  its  expression. 

"Art  thou  in  health,  my  brother  ?  "  was  the  way  in 
which  Joab  saluted  Amasa  as  he  took  him  by  the 
beard  to  kiss  him,  and  the  last  words  had  not  left 
his  lips  when  he  stabbed  him  to  the  heart.  Smiting 
him  under  the  fifth  rib  he  passed  on ;  but  not  so 
with  the  people  who  followed  Joab  to  battle.  The 
sight  arrested  their  attention,  and  they  stood  in  gath- 
ering crowds  gazing  with  surprise  and  horror  upon 
Amasa,  as  victim  of  the  basest  cruelty  he  wallowed 
in  his  blood  on  the  highway.  Any  dead  body  lying 
on  the  street  would  gather  a  crowd  around  it  and 
stay  the  steps  of  the  passers  by.  Exclamations  of 
pity,  of  horror  and  dismay  would  break  from  many 
lips,  while  the  question  would  pass  from  person  to 
person,  How  did  it  happen?  Who  is  he?  Where 
did  he  live?  Who  are  his  friends?  How  would  it 
move  us,  move  the  roughest  among  men,  to  see  some 
trembling,  bent,  gray  old  man  or  distracted  mother 
rush  through  the  throng  and  fling  themselves  on  the 
body  with  a  shriek,  a  wild  piercing  cry,  "  Oh,  my  son  ! 
my  beloved  son  !  would  I  had  died  for  thee,  my  son, 
my  son  !  "  That  stays  the  foot  of  man  ;  but  a  sight  is 
here  that  might  have  stayed  an  angel's  wing  and  filled 
both  heaven  and  earth  with  wonder.  Who  is  this? 
Hear,  oh  heavens,  and  be  astonished,  oh  earth  !  By 
the  cross,  where  He  died,  the  ear  of  faith  catches  the 
voice  of  the  Eternal :  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son."  He, 
then,  who  is  buffeted  by  cruel  hands  and  meekly 
bears  the  blows;  who  faints  from  loss  of  blood  and 
sinks  beneath  His  cross;  who  hangs  upon  the  tree 


166 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


while  the  blood  streams  from  His  hands  and  feet; 
whose  dying  ear  is  filled,  not  with  holy  prayers,  but 
with  the  shouts  and  mockery  of  an  impious  crew— He, 
hanging  mangled  and  lifeless  on  the  middle  cross, 
with  head  dropped  on  His  breast,  the  palor  of  death 
spread  over  His  cheek,  the  seal  of  death  on  His  lips, 
the  film  of  death  on  His  eyes,  is  the  Son  of  God !  The 
Prince  of  Life  has  become  the  prey  of  death — at  once 
its  noblest  victim  and  Almighty  Conqueror.  How  did 
it  happen?  One  word  conveys  the  answer.  That  word 
is  love,  love  to  sinners,  to  the  greatest,  guiltiest  sin- 
ners. Love  brought  Him  from  the  skies.  Love  made 
Mary  His  mother.  Love  shut  Him  in  Joseph's  tomb. 
Love  wove  the  cords  that  bound  His  hands.  Love 
forged  the  nails  that  fastened  Him  to  the  cross.  Love 
wept  in  His  tears,  breathed  in  His  sighs,  spake  in  His 
groans,  flowTed  in  His  blood  and  died  upon  His  cross. 
Oh !  it  is  impossible  to  stand  beside  that  cross,  with  its 
noble,  bleeding,  divine  burden,  and  not  address  that 
dear,  sacred  body,  saying :  Thy  love  to  me,  a  poor  sin- 
ner, an  ill-doing  and  hell-deserving  sinner,  a  guilty 
and  graceless,  a  hating  and  hateful  sinner,  was  won- 
derful, passing  the  love  of  women,  passing  the  love  of 
angels,  passing  any  tongue  to  tell,  passing  figures  to 
illustrate  or  fancy  to  imagine,  thought  to  measure  or 
eternity  itself  to  praise.  There  is  a  custom  in  the 
East  for  one  man  to  express  his  friendship  for  another 
by  presenting  him  with  rich  and  costly  vestments, 
by  taking  his  own  robe  and  putting  it  on  him.  I 
have  seen  it  related  how  the  Emperor  of  France  hav- 
ing marked  the  dauntless  bravery  of  a  soldier  in  the 


The  Love  of  Christ. 


167 


very  thick  and  whirlwind  of  the  fight,  took  his  own 
Cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  and  in  the  enthusiasm 
of  his  admiration  fixed  it  upon  the  brave  man's 
breast.  In  harmony  with  such  custom,  the  Scripture 
tell  us  that  Jonathan  stripped  himself  of  the  robe 
that  was  on  him  and  gave  it  to  David,  even  to  his 
sword,  his  bow  and  his  girdle.  And  when  that  shep- 
herd boy,  having  doffed  his  homely  attire,  now  stands 
before  the  court  and  camp  and  king  appareled  as  a 
prince  we  have  a  faint  image  of  what  Jesus  does  for 
us.  The  Son  of  God  denuded  Himself  of  His  visi- 
ble glory,  and,  as  it  were,  exchanged  vestments  with 
us.  Taking  our  nature,  He  put  on  our  shame  that 
He  might  apparel  us  in  His  glory.  What  an  ex- 
change ! 

Oh,  yes,  my  brother,  with  a  crown  of  thorns  He 
purchases  for  us  an  immortal  crown,  and  ascends 
the  cross  that  we  might  ascend  the  skies.  In  illus- 
tration, also,  of  the  love  of  Jonathan  we  are  told 
that  he  said  to  David,  "  Whatsoever  thy  soul  desireth 
I  will  do  for  thee."  The  very  language  Christ  ad- 
dresses to  His  people.  He  cannot  withhold  anything 
from  those  who  love  Him.  How  can  He?  It  were 
unreasonable  to  believe  it.  If  He  never  said  to  any 
of  the  sons  of  men  seek  ye  my  face  in  vain,  will 
he  not  give  us  all  needed  blessings.  Nor  has  He 
promised  anything  where  He  lacks  either  the  will  or 
the  abilityito  do.  Jonathan's  was  a  large  and  loving- 
hearted  promise,  but  alas !  the  day  came  when  the 
heart  that  loved  and  the  hand  that  would  have 
helped  David  were  cold  in  death.    "  Thy  love  to  me 


168 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


was  wonderful."  Bitter  thought — it  was  a  thing  in  the 
past — a  sacred  memory  !  No  more.  The  arrows  of 
the  Philistine  had  drunk  up  that  love.  The  iron 
mace  of  war  had  shattered  that  fountain.  It  lay 
empty  and  dry.  The  ear  into  which  David  had 
ofttimes  poured  his  sorrow  was  heavy  in  death.  The 
heart  that  loved  him  had  ceased  to  beat.  Jonathan 
was  gone — dead  and  gone — and  all  that  wTas  left  was 
the  memory  of  joys,  never,  never  to  return.  He 
should  see  his  face  no  more.  So  he  flung  himself 
on  his  bloody  grave  crying,  "I  am  distressed  for  thee, 
my  brother  Jonathan,  the  beauty  of  Israel  is  slain 
on  his  high  places.  Thy  love  to  me  was  wonderful, 
passing  the  love  of  women!" 

How  much  happier  the  circumstances  the  lover  of 
Jesus.  He  is  no  broken  cistern,  but  a  fountain,  ever 
full  and  flowing.  His  name,  "I  am  he  that  liveth 
and  was  dead."  The  angels  guard  an  empty  tomb 
and  dry  up  the  woman's  tears,  saying,  "  He  is  not 
here  — He  is  risen."  From  the  Cross  that  held  Him, 
and  the  sepulchre  that  tombed  Him,  we  rise  in  imag- 
ination to  followT  his  track  along  the  starry  skies, 
onward  to  the  gate  of  heaven,  and  still  on  and  still 
up,  thro'  lines  of  shouting  angels,  to  the  Throne  of 
the  Eternal.  He  is  there  now,  and  changing  the 
tense,  as  we  behold  Him  forgiving  our  daily  sins, 
supplying  our  daily  wants,  pouring  down  daily  bless- 
ings on  our  heads,  we  say  not  Thy  love  to  me  wras, 
but  Thy  love  to  me  is  wonderful.  And  never  till 
we  ourselves  have  passed  in  at  heaven's  gate  and 
behold  its  lofty  thrones  and  shining  ones,  the  glory 


The  Duty  and  Destiny,  etc.  169 

which  Jesus  has  with  the  Father  and  shares  with 
His  brethren  ;  never,  till  the  palm  of  victory  is  in 
ourown  hands,  and  blood-bought  crown  is  on  our  own 
heads  ;  never,  till  we  walk  the  streets  that  are  paved 
with  gold,  and  join  the  songs  that  are  as  the  noise 
of  many  waters,  shall  we  sufficiently  understand 
what  we  owe  to  the  love  of  Christ.  How  justly  we 
may  address  to  Him  these  words,  "  Thy  love  to  me 
was  wonderful." 

"  Oh  for  such  love  let  rocks  and  hills 
Their  lascing  silence  break, 
And  all  harmonious  human  tongues 
Their  Saviour's  praises  speak! 

Angels,  assist  our  mighty  joys, 
Strike  all  your  harps  of  gold — 
But  when  you  raise  your  highest  notes, 
His  love  can  ne'er  be  told  !  " 


THE  DUTY  AND  DESTINY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

By  Rev.  F.  L.  Reid,  D.  D., 
Editor  Raleigh  Christian  Advocate. 

"  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth."   Matt,  v:  13. 

"  That  He  might  present  it  to  himself  a  glorious  church,  not  having 
spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing;  but  that  it  should  be  holy  and 
without  blemish."   Ephesians  v:  27. 

The  theme  to  which  we  propose  calling  your  atten- 
tion is  the  duty  and  destiny  of  the  church. 

The  duty  of  the  church  is  clearly  set  forth  in  the 
first  text,  "  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth,"  and  the  des- 
tiny of  the  church  is  embodied  in  the  second  text, 


170 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


"  That  He  might  present  it  unto  Himself,"  etc.  So 
that  taking  the  two  together,  we  have  the  theme 
announced  for  the  hour.  The  church,  figuratively 
speaking,  is  God  in  the  world — in  other  words  God 
manifests  Himself  to  the  world  through  the  church. 
It  is  true  that  a  God  is  manifest  in  Nature.  When 
we  open  the  great  volume  of  Nature  we  learn  some- 
thing of  a  God,  see  Him  lifting  Himself  up  in  the 
majestic  mountains,  whose  tops  tower  towards  the 
heavens  as  if  to  furnish  a  path  through  the  skies;  we 
we  may  see  Him  as  He  makes  of  the  storm-cloud  a 
chariot  and  comes  thundering  down  to  earth  upon 
wheels  of  wind,  flashing  the  lightnings  of  heaven 
across  His  pathway;  we  may  take  the  astronomer's 
glass  and  scan  the  crystal  skies,  shining  to  His  praise, 
and  catch  a  glimpse  of  God  in  every  rolling  orb  and 
flashing  star. 

"  The  restless  globe  of  golden  light 
Whose  beams  create  our  days, 
May  join  the  silver  queen  of  night 
And  chant  Jehovah's  praise. 

While  monsters  sporting  on  the  flood, 

In  scaly  silver  shine, 
Speak  terribly  their  maker  God, 

And  lash  the  foaming  brine." 

But  with  all  these  manifestations  of  God's  grandeur 
and  power,  man  would  have  forever  wandered  into 
infidelity  and  idolatry  if  God  had  not  revealed  Him- 
self through  His  church.  "  The  surging  seas,  in  their 
eternal  roar,  might  forever  shout  to  the  Lord,"  the 
shrill  birds  might  forever  raise  His  honors  high  as 


The  Duty  and  Destiny,  etc.  171 


they  climb  the  morning  sky,  every  dew-drop  might 
flash  the  light  of  His  countenance  forever,  every 
flower  might  breathe  the  odor  of  His  precious  name, 
every  zephyr  might  whisper  it  through  the  trees,  and 
with  all  these  grand  and  beautiful  manifestations  of 
God's  power  man  would  forever  wander  in  darkness, 
ignorant  of  the  essential  character  of  the  Almighty. 
Man  could  have  learned  something  of  God's  power 
in  Nature,  but  if  God  had  not  manifested  Himself  as 
He  has  in  and  through  His  church  man  would  never 
have  known  God  aright,  "  whom  to  know  aright  is 
life  eternal."  Hence  the  remark  that  God  manifests 
Himself  to  the  world  through  the  church.  God 
made  the  world  for  the  church  and  He  made  the 
church  for  the  world.  It  was  no  accident  that  the 
world  was  made,  nor  was  it  any  accident  that  the 
church  was  founded  in  the  world. 

God  made  the  world  beautiful,  pure  and  holy, 
man  robbed  it  of  much  of  its  beauty  and  brought  the 
curse  of  sin  upon  it ;  then  God  made  the  church  to 
save  the  world,  and  in  this  sense  the  church  is  the 
salt  of  the  earth,  it  has  the  saving  property.  The 
great  object  of  the  church  is  to  save,  it  is  the  salt  that 
seasons  and  saves — it  must  not  only  save,  but  it  must 
season,  so  to  speak — it  must  give  tone  and  flavor  and 
taste. 

I  remark  first,  then,  that  in  order  that  the  church 
may  be  the  salt  of  the  earth  it  must  have  the  savor. 
Or,  in  other  words,  in  order  to  accomplish  its  mission 
in  the  world,  the  church  must  give  a  practical  illus- 
tration of  what  it  teaches  in  the  lives  of  its  members — 


172 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


the  salt,  in  order  to  season  and  save,  must  have  the 
seasoning  and  saving  quality — it  must  have  its 
savor;  if  it  have  not  the  savor  it  is  good  for  noth- 
ing but  to  be  cast  out  and  to  be  trodden  under  foot 
of  men. 

The  world  will  never  believe  that  the  church  can 
make  men  holy  and  happy  until  it  sees  the  church 
do  it.  The  church  may  profess  to  do  it,  but  just  as 
long  as  its  members  fail  to  be  holy  and  happy,  just 
so  long  will  the  world  refuse  to  believe  that  the 
church  can  do  it.  A  physician  may  profess  to  be 
able  to  cure  a  certain  disease,  and  he  may  advertise 
that  he  can  do  it,  but  the  quickest  way  in  the  world  to 
make  people  believe  what  he  says  is  to  cure  the  dis- 
ease, then  he  gives  unmistakable  evidence  that  he  can 
do  what  he  says  he  can.  The  same  principle  applies 
to  the  church.  The  best  way  to  make  sinners  believe 
that  there  is  a  reality  in  our  religion  is  to  show  that 
there  is  in  our  daily  lives.  It  is  hard  to  make  the 
world  believe  that  the  religion  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  will  make  a  man  pure  and  pious  as  long  as 
men  who  profess  to  have  it  indulge  in  all  kinds  of 
sinful,  worldly  amusements.  It  is  hard  to  make  the 
world  believe  that  religion  will  keep  a  man  from 
drinking  liquor  as  long  as  men  who  profess  to  have  it 
go  into  bar-rooms  and  drink.  It  is  hard  to  get  the 
world  to  believe  what  the  Bible  teaches  in  reference 
to  the  training  of  children,  until  Christian  parents 
train  their  children  properly.  It  is  difficult  to  make 
the  world  believe  that  our  religion  makes  a  man 
honest  and  upright,  while  members  of  the  church 


The  Duty  and  Destiny,  etc.  173 


cheat  and  defraud,  and  "take  short  cuts,"  as  the 
world  terms  it.  In  a  word,  the  great  thought  I  wish  to 
impress  is  this:  If  the  church  ever  saves  the  world,  it 
must  first  show  the  world  that  is  saved  itself.  In  my 
judgment,  the  greatest  hindrance  to  the  progress  of 
Christianity  to-day  is  the  want  of  consistency  and 
consecration  on  the  part  of  the  great  majority  of 
professing  Christians.  The  preachers  may  preach 
with  the  power  of  an  angel,  but  if  they  and  the  peo- 
ple do  not  practice  the  principles  of  the  gospel  it  will 
never  prevail. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  the  great  and  most  serious 
question  for  us  to  consider  is  this:  Is  the  church  pre- 
pared to  accomplish  its  work  in  the  world?  Has 
the  salt  the  savor?  Has  the  church  purity  of 
heart  and  piety  of  life  sufficient  for  the  conquests 
that  God  designed  it  to  make?  And  a  still  more 
practical,  searching,  personal  question  for  each  one 
of  us  to  make  is  this:  Am  I  prepared,  by  a  pure 
heart  and  a  pious  life,  to  do  my  part  of  the  great 
work  God  has  given  His  church  to  do?  Here  is  the 
great  starting  point.  Until  the  church  has  this  purity 
of  heart  and  piety  of  life  in  its  membership,  it  can- 
not be  the  salt  of  the  earth ;  but,  having  it,  it  is  pre- 
pared for  its  great  work,  which  is: 

To  save  the  world  from  civil  ruin.  The  church  has 
a  great  deal  more  to  do  in  influencing  civil  affairs 
than  most  people  imagine.  This  nation,  and  every 
other  civilized  nation,  owes  the  greater  part  of  its 
civilization  to  the  influence  of  the  church.  The 
church  is  the  salt  of  the  earth,  in  a  civil  sense.  Why, 


174 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


you  just  take  the  church  and  all  religious  influences 
out  of  the  country,  and  what  would  it  be  ?  Just  take 
all  the  influence  of  our  holy  religion  out  of  a  towTn, 
and  what  would  it  be?  In  two  years  you  couldn't 
get  even  a  respectable  sinner  to  live  in  such  a  place. 
That  sinner  who  scoffs  at  the  church  and  refuses  to 
support  the  gospel,  owes  the  safety  of  his  own  life 
and  property  to  the  influence  of  the  church  on  civil 
affairs.  Even  ten  righteous  men  would  have  saved 
the  wicked  city  of  Sodom.  Who  knows  how  many 
severe  judgments  the  righteous  people  of  the  country 
have  averted?  There  is  wickedness  enough  in  the 
civil  life  of  this  land  to  crush  it,  and  who  knows  but 
that  God  has  spared  it  because  of  the  righteous  men 
and  women  in  it? 

But  the  main  point  I  wish  to  impress  under  this 
head  is,  that  the  church  ought  to  exert  its  influence 
to  work  a  reformation  in  civil  affairs.  Just  at  this 
time  it  is  greatly  needed.  Now,  I  do  not  believe  in 
involving  the  church  in  partisan  politics.  I  think 
the  church  ought  to  keep  entirely  aloof  from  parti- 
san political  entanglements.  At  the  same  time,  I  do 
think  the  influence  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ 
ought  to  be  felt  in  all  our  civil  affairs ;  that  it  ought 
to  permeate  and  shape  all  our  public  concerns.  It 
ought  to  be  the  salt  that  seasons  our  civil  life  and 
saves  us  from  civil  ruin.  I  repeat,  such  an  influence 
is  greatly  needed.  It  is  enough  to  make  the  heart 
of  a  good  man  sick  to  look  upon  the  condition  of 
civil  affairs  in  this  country.  Nihilism,  communism, 
and  many  other  pernicious  isms  are  prevalent.  There 


The  Duty  and  Destiny,  etc. 


175 


is  a  spirit  of  unrest,  disquietude  and  discontent, 
which  seems  to  foreshadow  some  great  change.  Pub- 
lic feeling  is  about  to  cut  loose  from  its  old  fastenings 
and,  without  any  well  defined  plans,  is  seeking  some- 
thing new  and  different.  The  political  ties  that  have 
bound  men  together  heretofore  are  weakening.  Men 
have  less  respect  for  law  and  government  than  for- 
merly, and  all  this  presages  great  good,  or  it  presages 
great  evil.  Which  it  will  be,  in  my  opinion,  depends 
upon  the  influence  which  the  church  exerts  upon 
our  civil  life;  and  the  great  question  of  the  hour  is, 
Has  the  church  sufficient  moral  and  religious  influ- 
ence to  save  the  country  from  civil  ruin  ?  Mere  in- 
tellectual culture  will  not  do  it ;  mere  legislation  will 
not  cure  our  ills.  It  is  useless  to  expect  intellectual 
culture  or  legislation  to  cure  our  ills.  These  have 
their  uses  and  are  important,  but  work  no  change  in 
the  moral  character  of  men.  We  need  more  than 
intellectual  culture  or  worldly  legislation — we  need 
moral  training,  religious  influence,  the  observance  and 
administration  of  sound  moral  law,  the  exercise  of 
heathful,  moral  discipline  in  our  churches  in  regard 
to  both  preachers  and  people.  In  the  great  struggle 
now  going  on  in  the  world  between  truth  and  error, 
the  powers  of  light  and  the  powers  of  darkness,  the 
lines  between  the  contending  forces  should  be  dis- 
tinctly and  clearly  drawn,  and  every  one  put  in  his 
true  position.  Let  those  who  are  on  the  Lord's  side  be 
drawn  in  battle  array.  Let  all  who  are  disloyal  in 
heart  and  life  to  Christ  be  put  where  they  belong, 
and  let  a  purged,  purified  church  permeate  our  civil 


176  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


life  with  a  sound,  healthful,  moral  influence,  center- 
ing all  our  culture  in  Christ,  and  basing  all  our  leg- 
islation on  the  great  law  of  love  laid  down  in  His 
life.  Thus  the  church  may  be  the  salt  of  our  civil 
life  that  will  save  us  from  impending  ruin  as  a 
nation. 

Again,  the  church  must  save  us  from  social  ruin.  We 
certainly  need  something  to  save  us  from  social  ruin. 
The  foundations  of  our  social  fabric  are  being  shaken. 
Society  is  filled  with  giant  evils  that  threaten  its 
destruction.  Intemperance  threatens  to  crush  the 
very  life  out  of  American  society.  Our  fair  young 
ladies  are  too  often  the  companions  of  drunkards. 
It  is  too  frequently  the  case  that  when  our  fair  daugh- 
ters are  led  as  blushing  brides  to  the  matrimonial 
altar,  they  have  there  fixed  upon  them  the  stigma 
and  misery  of  being  a  drunkard's  wife.  In  almost 
every  home  of  the  land  is  a  victim  of  intemperance. 
It  stalks,  like  a  great  monster,  through  our  land 
despoiling  happy  homes,  crushing  hearts  into  hope- 
lessness, beggaring  thousands  of  our  children,  and 
burying  60,000  of  our  once  noble  men  in  drunkards' 
graves  every  year. 

The  various  familiar  figures  of  the  modern  dance 
are  about  to  drive  all  modesty  out  of  society.  There 
is  enough  fornication  and  adultery  in  this  land  to 
crush  society.  In  almost  every  newspaper  you  pick 
up  you  read  of  some  poor  woman's  ruin.  Bad  men 
and  fast  women,  in  some  sections,  are  inaugurating 
a  system  of  free-love-ism,  and  so-called  woman's 
rights,  that  threaten  great  evil  to  our  social  life. 


The  Duty  and  Destiny,  etc.  177 

Society  lets  the  seducer  pass  current  in  its  circles,  and 
asks  only  of  the  man  who  knocks  at  its  door,  "  How 
much  is  he  worth  ?  "  In  social  circles  dollars  pass 
for  more  than  brains,  or  character,  or  culture.  It  is 
only  here  and  there  that  we  can  find  remnants  of 
the  old-time  refined,  cultured,  social  life.  Coarseness 
and  vulgarity  are  prevalent  and  popular.  We  need 
a  reformation.  We  need  an  influence  to  check  all 
this  looseness  and  lasciviousness  in  society.  The 
church  of  God  must  come  to  the  rescue.  The  church 
must  breathe  upon  all  this  impurity  a  purer  atmos- 
phere; it  must  hold  up  a  higher  type  of  manhood 
and  womanhood.  The  church  of  God  must  take 
hold  of  society  and  drive  out  all  these  drunkards 
and  slanderers  and  adulterers  and  adulteresses  and 
fornicators,  and  raise  the  standard  of  social  life 
higher,  and  teach  men  and  women  to  be  purer  and 
more  refined  and  elevated  in  their  thoughts,  feelings, 
words  and  actions.  Society  needs  purifying.  There 
is  no  use  to  try  to  conceal  the  fact.  You  know  it, 
and  I  know  it.  Unless  the  church  does  it,  it  will 
not  be  done.  Here  is  a  great  work  for  the  church  to 
do.  In  this  way  the  church  may  prove  to  be  the 
salt  of  our  social  life,  and  may  save  us  from  impend- 
ing social  ruin. 

I  remark,  in  the  next  place,  that  the  church  must 
save  the  world  from  spiritual  ruin.  So  far  we  have  been 
considering  the  work  of  the  church  as  it  affects  us  in 
our  temporal  welfare,  but  the  great  and  grand  work 
of  the  church  is  to  save  the  world  from  spiritual  ruin. 
If  it  stops  short  of  this,  it  is  a  great  failure.  The  last 
12 


178  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


message  that  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  ascending  Lord 
to  the  church,  gathered  at  His  feet,  was,  "Go  ye  into 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  ever}'  creature." 
In  this  is  embodied  the  great  duty  of  the  church.  It 
was  to  go  into  all  the  world,  beginning  at  Jerusalem. 
Are  we  doing  this?  Are  we  beginning  even  at  Jeru- 
salem? Are  we  doing  this  work  at  home?  Men 
and  women  are  dying  and  going  to  hell  right  around 
us  every  day.  Are  we  making  proper  efforts  to  save 
them  ?  In  many  of  your  homes,  sitting  at  your  own 
fireside  and  by  your  own  dining-table,  are  men  and 
women  on  the  road  to  an  eternal  hell,  some  of  them 
are  your  own  children,  bone  of  your  bone  and  flesh 
of  your  flesh,  and  yet  you  have  never  spoken  to  them 
on  the  subject  of  personal  religion ;  never  made  a 
personal  effort  for  their  salvation  ;  never  called  them 
around  a  family  altar  for  prayer;  never  an  effort  to 
save  your  own  household.  There  is  great  need  for 
the  beginning  of  this  great  work  at  home. 

We  must  begin  at  home,  but  we  cannot  stop  there. 
The  charity  that  begins  and  remains  at  home  is  no 
charity  at  all.  In  connection  with  these  efforts  to 
save  those  right  around  us,  the  church  must  gird 
itself  for  the  conquest  of  the  world.  The  world  is 
open.  All  the  church  has  to  do  now  is  to  march  in 
and  conquer.  In  the  last  fifty  years  the  church  has 
made  rapid  strides  toward  spreading  the  gospel 
throughout  the  world.  Fifty  years  ago  missionary 
societies  and  missionary  operations  were  few  and 
weak,  now  they  are  a  power-felt  all  over  the  world. 
Fifty  years  ago  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  of  the  pop- 


The  Duty  and  Destiny,  etc.  179 


ulation  of  the  earth  were  closed  against  the  mission- 
aries of  the  cross,  now  the  world  is  open,  and  mis- 
sionaries and  missionary  stations  may  be  numbered 
by  the  tens  of  thousands,  and  the  Bible  is  translated 
and  read  in  hundreds  of  languages.  The  English 
language  and  English  literature  are  being  carried  to 
almost  every  nation  on  earth,  and  the  British,  For- 
eign and  American  Bible  Societies,  like  the  Apoca- 
lyptic angel,  are  flying  through  the  earth  bearing 
the  everlasting  gospel  to  a  lost  and  ruined  race.  God 
is  using  all  these  modern  improvements  and  increased 
facilities  for  intercommunication  for  the  spread  of 
the  gospel  and  the  salvation  of  souls ;  and  if  the 
church  will  only  rise  up  in  all  its  strength  and  God- 
given  power  and  push  its  great  work,  e'er  long  the 
shout  will  be  heard  in  heaven  and  on  earth:  "Alle- 
lujah,  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth,  and  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  have  become  the  kingdoms 
of  our  Lord  and  his  Christ."  Then  will  the  church  be 
prepared  for  its  final  grand  destiny,  as  intimated  in 
our  second  text :  "  That  he  might  present  it  unto  him- 
self a  glorious  church,  not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle, 
or  any  such  thing,  but  that  it  should  be  holy  and 
without  blemish." 

The  church  is  to  have  this  grand  triumph  sooner 
or  later.  I  know  not  when,  but  it  will  come.  Bishop 
Marvin,  in  one  of  his  sermons,  says  he  thinks  the 
church  is  now  in  its  infancy — that  God  has  a  grand 
career,  extending  through  many  years  yet,  for  His 
church.  He  does  not  think  that  God  would  take 
four  thousand  years  in  which  to  prepare  the  church 


180  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


for  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  give  it  only  a  little  over 
two  thousand  years  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  His  coming. 
I  know  not  how  this  may  be,  and  nobody  else,  not 
even  the  angels  in  heaven  know  about  it.  These 
men  that  are  telling  so  glibly  when  the  end  of  the 
world  will  come  know  nothing  about  it,  and  only 
make  themselves  ridiculous  when  they  claim  to 
know  such  things.  But  we  do  know  that  the 
church  will  conquer  the  world  for  Christ,  and  that 
He  will  some  day  present  it  to  Himself  "  a  glorious 
church,  not  having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such 
thing."  Oh  !  what  a  grand  destiny !  A  glorious 
church  to  be  presented  to  a  more  glorious  God  !  A 
glorious  church!  Glorious  in  achievement!  It  is 
enough  to  make  the  heart  of  the  Christian  swell  with 
a  laudable  pride  when  he  studies  the  history  of  the 
church  and  sees  what  it  has  already  accomplished  in 
the  world.  When  he  begins  and  reads  of  Abraham 
and  Isaac  and  Jacob,  of  Joseph,  of  the  Israelites,  of 
the  patriarchs,  of  the  prophets,  of  Paul  and  Peter 
and  John ;  of  James  and  Stephen,  and  the  martyrs 
of  the  past ;  of  heroes  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
on  down  to  the  present,  what  a  glorious  record  he 
finds,  and  how  it  stirs  his  heart !  With  what  stately 
steppings  has  God  moved  in  the  history  of  the  church! 

But  the  achievements  of  the  church  are  to  be  more 
glorious  and  grander  still.  God  is  pushing  His 
church  out  into  the  heathen  world  and  pressing  the 
conflict  everywhere.  The  almost  miraculous  prog- 
ress of  missionary  work  is  the  wonder  of  this  age 
Ere  long  a  band  of  missionaries  will  come  from  the 


The  Duty  and  Destiny,  etc.  181 

Eastern  world  and  hang  China,  and  Japan,  and 
Hindoostan  and  the  remainder  of  Asia  as  a  trophy 
upon  the  cross  of  Christ ;  and  another  band  will  soon 
come  and  hang  Egypt,  and  Ethiopia,  and  Liberia, 
and  Guinea,  and  the  remainder  of  Africa  as  a  trophy 
upon  the  cross ;  another  band  will  come  and  hang 
Greece,  and  cruel  Turkey,  and  down-trodden  Ireland, 
and  Rome-cursed  Italy,  and  the  remainder  of  Europe 
as  a  trophy  upon  the  cross ;  still  another  band  of  mis- 
sionaries will  bring  Brazil,  and  Venezuela,  and  the 
remainder  of  South  America,  and  another  band  will 
bring  the  West  Indies,  and  Mexico,  and  all  North 
America,  and  yet  another  band  will  bring  Oceanica, 
and  all  the  Isles  of  the  Sea  as  trophies  to  the  cross, 
and  then  the  work  of  the  church  militant  will  be 
complete,  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  North  and  South 
America,  and  of  Europe,  and  Asia,  and  Africa,  and 
Oceanica  will  join  in  earth's  last  grand  doxology,  and 
the  Son  of  God  shall  spread  His  blessed  hands  and 
pronounce  the  last  benediction  upon  earth's  assem- 
bled multitude,  and  the  Apocalyptic  angel,  taking 
his  position  in  the  sun,  shall  cry  with  a  loud  voice: 
"Come  and  gather  yourselves  together  unto  thesupper 
of  the  Great  God."  The  church  militant  will  then 
be  changed  into  the  church  triumphant,  and  the 
grand  presentation  spoken  of  in  the  text  will  be  made. 
Brethren,  that  will  be  a  grand  presentation  day  !  It 
was  a  grand  day  when  God,  by  a  word,  made  this 
beautiful  earth  and  flashed  light  into  it  and  flung  it 
into  its  orbit  and  sent  it  on  its  great  mission;  it  was 
a  grand  day  when  in  the  midst  of  fire  and  smoke 


182 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


and  cloud  and  thunder  and  lightning  God  came  down 
upon  the  mount  and  gave  His  law  to  man ;  it  was  a 
grand  day  when  the  angels  chanted  the  natal  song 
and  shepherds  worshiped  and  wise  men  bowed 
before  the  infant  Redeemer;  it  was  a  grand  sad  day 
when  from  Calvary's  cross  came  the  cry,  "  It  is  fin- 
ished ! "  as  the  cloud  which  had  hung  over  Sinai 
floated  around  o'er  Calvary's  mount  and  "  burst  into 
a  shower  of  the  Saviour's  tears  ;  "  it  was  a  grand  day 
when  He  led  them  out  as  far  as  Bethany  and 
ascended  in  triumph  to  enter  the  opening  gates  and 
doors  of  the  celestial  city,  His  work  of  redemption 
complete,  but  it  will  be  a  still  grander  day  than  all 
these  when  the  last  battle  of  the  cross  has  been 
fought,  the  world  brought  to  Christ,  and  the  glorified 
church,  having  conquered  the  world,  comes  with  its 
trophies  to  be  presented,  without  spot  or  wrinkle,  to 
the  blessed  Son  of  God,  as  the  grand  results  of  His 
death  and  resurrection.  This  is  the  day  for  which 
all  other  days  were  made. 

In  imagination,  I  can  see  the  hosts  of  the  redeemed 
gathering  about  the  great  white  Throne.  Abraham 
and  all  the  Old  Testament  worthies  are  there,  and 
all  the  faithful  from  the  time  of  Adam  down  to  the 
last  syllable  of  time.  They  are  clothed  in  garments 
of  white,  with  crowns  of  rejoicing  upon  their  brows, 
and  golden  harps  suspended  on  their  arms,  and  palms 
of  victory  in  their  hands.  What  a  mighty  throng! 
They  are  perfectly  tremulous  with  joy.  I  would  like 
to  get  near  enough  to  hear  what  they  are  saying. 
Poor  old  afflicted  Jacob,  from  whose  wearied  heart 


f 


The  Duty  and  Destiny,  etc.  183 


here  was  wrung  the  cry,  "All  these  things  are  against 
me,"  has  changed  his  tone  and  now  exclaims,  "  All 
these  things  are  for  me";  Job  now  really  knows  that 
his  Redeemer  liveth ;  Jeremiah's  lamentations  have 
been  turned  into  songs  of  rejoicing;  David's  plain- 
tive strains  are  changed  to  gladsome  hallelujahs; 
Paul  still  triumphantly  shouts,  "Thanks  be  unto 
God  which  giveth  us  the  victory  ";  John  Wesley  now 
realizes  that  "the  best  of  all  is  God  is  with  us,"  and 
Charles  Wesley  sings  more  beautifully  than  ever — 

"  Jesus,  the  name  high  over  all, 
In  hell,  or  earth,  or  sky — 
Angels  and  men  before  it  fall, 
And  devils  fear  and  fly." 

And  there  I  see  one  who  was  a  poor,  poverty- 
stricken  woman  in  this  world,  lived  on  a  dirt  floor, 
in  rags,  and  went  through  this  world  with  weeping 
eyes  and  a  saddened  heart — now  God  has  clothed  her 
in  robes  of  light,  wiped  all  tears  from  her  eyes,  thrown 
into  her  heart  the  sunlight  of  eternal  joy,  and  she 
triumphantly  walks  upon  the  golden  streets — happy 
forever  more  ! 

Oh,  what  a  grand,  happy  host  to  be  presented  to 
the  Son  of  God !  They  are  gathered  up  there.  The 
wilderness  and  the  solitary  places  have  been  glad 
for  them — the  desert  has  rejoiced  and  blossomed  as 
the  rose — the  eyes  of  the  blind  have  been  opened — 
the  ears  of  the  deaf  have  been  unstopped — the  lame 
man  is  leaping  as  a  hart — the  tongues  of  the  dumb 
are  singing,  and  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  have 


184  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


returned  and  gone  home  to  Zion  with  songs  and  ever- 
lasting joy  upon  their  heads — they  have  obtained 
joy  and  gladness,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  have  for- 
ever flown  away. 

"  No  more  fatigue — no  more  distress, 
Nor  sin,  nor  hell  shall  reach  the  place; 
No  sighs  shall  mingle  with  the  songs 
Which  warble  from  immortal  tongues. 

No  rude  alarms  of  raging  foes, 
No  cares  to  break  the  long  repose; 
No  midnight  shade — no  clouded  sun, 
But  sacred,  high,  eternal  noon. 

O!  long  expected  day  begin, 
Dawn  on  this  world  of  woe  and  sin ; 
Fain  would  we  leave  this  weary  road, 
And  sleep  in  death  to  rest  with  God." 


WORK  WHILE  IT  IS  DAY. 
By  Rev.  E.  C.  Sell, 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  M.  E.  C,  S. 


"I  must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me,  while  it  is  day:  the 
night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work."— St.  John  ix:4. 

Our  Saviour  was  in  the  form  and  possessed  the 
features  of  man;  but  while  He  resembled  man  in 
this  particular,  He  was  unlike  man  in  the  perform- 
ance of  His  duty.  During  His  stay  on  earth  He  left 
nothing  undone  which  should  have  been  done,  and 
nothing  unsaid  which  should  have  been  said,  but 
did  and  said  all  things  that  were  necessary  in  order 


Work  While  it  is  Day. 


185 


to  accomplish  the  great  work  which  He  was  sent  to 
do.  And  when  "the  night"  had  come,  and  when 
He  was  hanging  between  heaven  and  earth,  suffer- 
ing the  agonies  of  death,  He  did  not  say  to  the  mob, 
spare  me  another  year,  or  another  month,  or  another 
day;  I  have  not  done  as  I  should  have  done,  "the 
work  of  him  that  sent  me."  Release  me  that  I  may 
restore  the  blind  to  sight  and  heal  the  palsied  limb. 
Let  me  go  that  I  may  cast  out  devils  and  raise  the 
dead.  No,  no;  He  did  not  say,  let  me  go  that  I  may 
work  more  miracles,  and,  by  these  demonstrations  of 
divine  power,  show  to  the  world  that  I  have  come 
from  the  eternal  throne  on  high  down  to  this  sinful 
world  "to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost." 
But  what  did  He  say?  Listen.  Before  "he  bowed 
his  head  and  gave  up  the  ghost."  Hush !  Stand 
still  one  moment,  ye  busy  tribes  of  earth,  and  catch 
the  words  of  the  dying  Lord — "  It  is  finished/" 

We,  too,  have  a  work  to  do.  We  have  souls  to 
save — immortal  souls  that  will  exist  forever.  0, 
where  will  these  immortal  souls  of  ours  be  when  a 
portion  of  eternity  equal  to  a  million  times  a  mil- 
lion years  has  passed  by,  after  the  archangel's  trump 
wakes  our  silent  dust,  and  our  souls  and  bodies  are 
again  united  and  sent  to  an  everlasting  abode?  They 
will  be  in  the  presence  of  God  enjoying  the  happi- 
ness of  heaven,  or  they  will  be  in  the  presence  of 
the  devil  suffering  the  torments  of  hell.  The  value! 
the  value!  0,  the  value  of  one  soul!  But  where 
we  will  be  depends  upon  ourselves.  Our  Saviour 
did  His  "work."    The  atonement  has  been  made. 


186 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


The  plan  of  salvation  stands  completed.  A  way  has 
been  opened,  thank  God,  for  all  who  will  to  go  up  to 
"  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem, 
and  to  an  innumerable  company  of  angels." 

But  let  us  come  nearer  home.  Let  us  be  honest 
with  ourselves.  Let  each  one  of  us  sincerely  and 
prayerfully  ask  ourselves  these  questions :  How  is 
the  case  with  me?  Have  I  been  "born  again"?  (St. 
John  iii:  7)  and  am  I  at  peace  with  God  and  all 
mankind  ?  Have  I  done  what  I  could  to  rescue  those 
around  me  who  are  living  in  sin  and  going  to  hell? 
Have  I  co-operated  with  the  minister  of  the  gospel 
and  the  people  of  God,  as  I  should,  in  their  great 
work  of  trying  to  build  up  Zion  and  win  souls  to 
Christ?  Have  I  contributed  according  to  my  abil- 
ity of  the  means  that  God  has  given  me,  to  support 
the  gospel  at  home?  Have  I,  with  my  money,  ex- 
tended a  helping  hand  to  the  poor  benighted  heathen 
who  know  not  the  true  God  ?  Have  I  done  my  whole 
duty  as  God  would  have  me  do  it,  and  do  I,  this 
moment,  stand  acquitted  before  Him,  in  the  sunlight 
of  His  favor,  and  with  His  love  burning  in  my  soul? 
And,  after  asking  ourselves  these  questions,  if  we 
find  that  we  have  come  short;  if  we  find  that  we 
have  failed  to  do  our  duty,  and  are  "  wan  ting"  (Dan. 
v:  27),  let  us  get  down  on  our  knees  and  pray  to  a 
merciful  God  for  pardon.  Let  us  wrestle,  like  Jacob, 
till  the  sun  of  righteousness  shines  into  our  souls, 
and  Jesus  whispers,  "  Peace";  and  then  let  us  go  on 
and  do  what  we  can  to  win  immortal  souls  to  Christ. 

The  night  of  death  is  coming.  What  is  the  hour 
of  the  day  of  life?    Which  way  do  the  shadow 


Eternal  Life. 


187 


point?  Where  is  the  sun?  Is  it  climbing  up  to- 
ward the  zenith  ?  Has  it  already  reached  the  merid- 
ian? Is  it  "bending  low,"  or  has  it  almost  reached 
the  horizon  ?  Will  it  set  this  year?  Will  it  set  this 
month?  Will  it  set  to-day?  God  in  heaven  can 
answer  these  questions. 

Should  God  look  down  from  His  throne  to  day — 
yea,  this  hour — and  say  "  This  night  thy  soul  shall 
be  required  of  thee,"  could  you  say  "  My  work  is 
done ;  I  am  ready  to  go  home  and  receive  my  reward"? 
or  would  you  have  to  say  "  0  Lord,  my  work  is  not 
done ;  I  am  not  ready  to  die ;  spare  me,  spare  me  a 
little  longer,  and  I  will  do  what  Thou  wTouldst  have 
me  do."  f 

But  remember,  when  "the  night"  comes,  when 
the  angel  of  death  comes,  we  must  go,  ready  or  un- 
ready.   Good  Lord,  help  us  all  to  be  ready ! 

Think  about  this ;  pray  over  it ;  do  thy  work  now 
"  while  it  is  day,"  for  the  night  is  coming  "  when  no 
man  can  work." 


ETERNAL  LIFE. 

By  Rev.  Solomon  Lea, 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Local  Ministers'  Conference. 

"He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  eternal  life."   John  iii:  36. 

There  are  three  leading  thoughts  to  which  our 
attention  is  invited,  namely,  the  Son,  faith  and  life. 
Who  and  what  is  the  Son?  He  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  called  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  Man, 


188 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


uniting  mysteriously  in  Himself  two  natures,  the  hu- 
man and  divine.  That  He  is  human,  is  clearly  dem- 
onstrated by  the  manner  of  His  birth,  His  whole  his- 
tory and  His  death.  As  a  human  being  He  ate, 
drank,  walked,  talked  and  worked.  He  had  a  hu- 
man body,  with  its  properties  and  faculties,  bone  of 
our  bone,  flesh  of  our  flesh,  our  sympathizing  friend 
and  our  elder  brother.  He  was  emphatically  a  hu- 
man being,  having  our  nature,  with  sin  excepted.  As 
a  man  He  was  the  most  perfect,  the  most  lovely  and 
the  most  unselfish  being  that  ever  existed.  There 
was  not  a  defect,  a  blemish,  a  stain  in  His  nature  and 
character.  That  He  is  divine,  as  the  Son  of  God,  is 
proved  beyond  all  doubt  by  His  life,  His  miracles  and 
His  teaching.  As  the  Son  of  God  the  Father,  He 
has  His  nature,  His  character  and  His  attributes. 

He  is  represented  in  the  Scriptures  as  the  Creator, 
the  Preserver  and  Disposer  of  all  things  in  heaven  and 
earth.  The  inspired  apostle  says :  "  In  the  beginning 
was  the  word  and  the  word  was  with  God  and  the 
word  was  God.  The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with 
God.  All  things  were  made  by  Him,  and  without 
Him  was  not  anything  made  that  hath  been  made. 
In  Him  was  life  and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men." 
"  For  in  Him  were  all  things  created,  in  the  heavens 
and  upon  the  earth,  things  visible  and  things  invisi- 
ble, whether  thrones  or  dominions  or  principalities 
or  powers ;  all  things  have  been  created  through 
Him  and  unto  Him,  and  His  before  all  things,  and 
in  Him  all  things  consist."  With  such  declarations, 
and  many  others  that  might  be  quoted,  who  can 


Eternal  Life. 


189 


doubt  the  divinity  of  the  Son  of  God  ?  The  Epistle 
of  Hebrews  seems  mainly  designed  to  prove  the 
superiority  and  divinity  of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 
And  yet  there  are  denominations  and  many  pro- 
fessed Christian  people  who  doubt  and  even  deny  the 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  great  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles,  in  all  his  epistles,  usually  begins  with  this 
declaration,  "  Grace  to  you  from  God,  our  Father,  and 
the  Lord,  Jesus  Christ."  We  worship  Jesus  Christ, 
which  would  be  idolatry  if  He  is  not  divine.  The  Son 
is  the  object  of  our  faith,  not  only  as  a  human  and 
divine  being,  but  He  is  especially  so  as  our  atoning 
sacrifice,  as  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world.  The  Apostle  says  God  forbid  "  that 
I  should  glory  save  in  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  cru- 
cified." 

"  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness, 
even  must  the  Son  be  lifted  up,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  Him  might  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life."  As  sinners,  we  are  conscious  of  sin,  of 
our  guilt,  our  danger  and  loss  ;  we  look  to  the  cross,, 
the  bleeding  and  suffering  victim,  and  as  we  gaze  and 
believe,  the  burden  of  guilt  is  taken  away,  peace  and 
comfort  spring  up.  Oh !  what  a  change.  From 
condemnation  to  justification,  from  sorrow  to  joy, 
from  darkness  to  light,  from  the  child  of  the  devil  to 
the  son  of  God.  No  wonder  we  love,  we  praise,  we 
adore  the  blessed  Jesus. 

The  second  leading  thought  is  Faith.  It  admits  of 
different  kinds  and  of  different  degrees. 

Historical  faith  is  simply  credence  or  belief  in 
some  fact  or  event  that  has  occurred.  Evangelical 


190 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


or  saving  faith  is  not  only  credence,  but  much  more  ; 
it  is  confidence,  reliance,  a  personal  trust  in  God  our 
Father,  and  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour.  Such  a  faith 
is  always  accompanied  with  love  and  obedience.  Is 
faith  the  gift  of  God  ?  In  one  view,  it  is.  God  gives 
us  the  object  of  our  faith,  and  also  the  evidence  of 
our  faith,  but  the  act  of  believing  is  our  own,  with 
God's  preventing  grace.  Faith  is  of  every  possible 
degree,  little  faith,  weak  faith,  great  faith,  strong 
faith.  This  depends  upon  many  and  various  causes. 
It  is  susceptible  of  growth  and  expansion  and  culti- 
vation. Reading  and  studying  the  Scriptures,  med- 
itation and  intense  agonizing  prayer  have  a  tendency 
to  increase  and  strengthen  our  faith.  Who  and 
what  can  limit  our  faith?  It  is  a  mighty  power;  it 
grasps  the  promises  and  power  of  God,  upheaves 
mountains,  stops  the  sun  in  his  course,  and  works 
mighty  miracles.  The  Scriptures  abound  with  illus- 
trations and  examples  of  its  power. 

The  third  leading  idea  in  our  text  is  Life — eternal 
life.  There  are  different  kinds  of  life — vegetable, 
animal,  and  spiritual  life.  Plants  and  trees  have  a 
life.  Fluids  and  juices  circulate  through  them.  Ani- 
mals have  life,  the  blood,  its  vital  principle,  circulat- 
ing through  them.  The  life  of  a  human  being  de- 
pends upon  the  union  of  the  soul,  the  immortal 
principle,  with  the  body.  Separate  the  two,  and  he 
dies.  So,  in  spiritual  life,  it  depends  upon  its  union 
with  Christ.  Faith  is  the  connecting  principle. 
Faith  brings  the  two  parties  together  and  cements 
and  continues  them.  The  Apostle  says,  "  The  live 
that  I  now  live,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of 


The  Gospel  Call. 


191 


God."  As  believers,  we  live  by  faith.  Our  text  says 
not  life  only,  but  "  eternal  life."  Its  principle  exists 
now,  continues  through  life  and  is  not  severed  by 
death.  Death  does  not,  nor  cannot  destroy  this  spir- 
itual life.  No  power  in  heaven  or  earth  can  separate 
us  from  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  We  may 
by  our  own  conduct  and  commission  of  sin  dissever 
the  union  and  destroy  this  living  principle.  The 
Apostle  exclaims,  "  Thanks  be  unto  God  who  giveth 
us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Oh  ! 
the  pleasure,  the  enjoyment  of  this  spiritual  life! 
Nothing  on  earth  can  equal  it.  It  is  cheering,  com- 
forting, elevating.  "  It  is  sweeter  than  honey  and 
the  honeycomb."  "  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
nor  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things 
that  God  hath  laid  up  for  them  that  love  him."  And 
then  its  value  !  who  can  estimate  it?  Precious  gold 
and  sparkling  diamonds  cannot  be  compared  with  it. 
Let  us  praise  and  bless  God  our  Father  and  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  now  and  forever.  Amen. 


THE  GOSPEL  CALL. 

By  Rev.  Levi  Branson,  D.  D., 
Secretary  of  the  North  Carolina  Local  Ministers'  Conference. 

"  And  the  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  heareth 
say,  Come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst,  come.  And  whosoever  will, 
let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely."— Revelation  xxii :  17. 

Noah,  the  first  commissioned  preacher,  was  a  mis- 
sionary without  any  fixed  church,  and  without  a 
salary;  and  while  it  would  have  been  to  the  infinite 


192  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


interest  of  the  people  to  have  paid  for  the  truth,  and 
then  to  have  profited  by  it,  God  did  not  commit  the 
absurdity  of  either  requiring  or  expecting  them  to 
purchase  the  message  which  condemned  their  wick- 
edness and  announced  their  certain  destruction.  »The 
race  had  suddenly,  wilfully  and  utterly  gone  astray, 
and  nothing  but  a  sudden,  wilful  and  sweeping 
destruction  on  the  part  of  Deity  could  have  awak- 
ened in  man  interest  in  or  respect  for  the  Supreme 
Ruler  of  the  universe. 

While  this  first  great  missionary  made  not  one  con- 
vert among  the  mighty  millions  teeming  down  to 
the  flood,  he  was  yet  much  more  successful  than 
many  of  the  nineteenth  century,  in  that  he  brought 
off  victoriously  his  own  household.  What  an  exam- 
ple for  all  succeeding  preachers  of  the  riches  of  the 
everlasting  kingdom ! 

The  world  now  began  to  learn  of  the  existence 
and  power  of  Deity.  In  due  time  the  heavenly  mes- 
sages of  warning  and  peace  were  entrusted  to  a  larger 
number  of  heralds,  and  the  world  was  made  alive 
by  the  glorious  news  of  a  Saviour  to  come;  a  Won- 
derful Counsellor,  a  Messianic  Priest,  the  wonderful 
example  of  a  priest  for  the  world  that  should  Him- 
self become  the  all-atoning  sacrifice. 

But  the  church  of  God  was  only  gradually  estab- 
lished among  men.  Nor  was  the  plan  of  salvation 
pressed  too  rapidly  upon  those  to  be  saved,  but  so 
far  as  could  be  done,  man  was  made  instrumental 
in  working  out  the  plan.  Hence  he  was  given  a 
priesthood  long  before  he  became  a  prophet,  and 


The  Gospel  Call. 


193 


many  were  installed  as  priests  who  were  not  yet  fitted 
for  the  prophetic  career.  The  priesthood  of  the  Jew- 
ish church  was  a  very  different  thing  from  the  priest- 
hood or  the  ministry  of  the  present  day,  in  that  it 
was  a  continued  and  laborious  exemplification  of  the 
living  sacrifice  yet  to  be  made  in  the  person  of  Jesus; 
and  all  the  daily  performances  of  four  thousand 
years  were  only  sufficient  to  prepare  the  fallen  mind 
for  the  comprehension  of  the  great  atonement,  Only 
thus  did  men  come  plainly  to  understand  that  by 
the  shedding  of  blood  alone  is  there  remission  of 
sins.  The  prophets  of  olden  times  seem  not  always 
to  have  been  priests,  nor  the  priests  always  to  have 
been  prophets;  but  the  priesthood  was  provided  for 
by  law,  both  as  to  its  continuance  and  support,  that 
there  might  always  be  before  the  people  a  remem- 
brance of  the  glorious  things  to  come;  but  of 
prophecy,  there  was  no  legal  organization  and  no 
legal  provision  for  support. 

Here  is  a  distinction  not  always  noted,  and  one  that 
may  enlighten  us  as  to  the  divine  manner  of  propa- 
gating truth  in  the  earth. 

In  the  earlier  ages  of  Christianity  the  church  was 
supposed  to  be  but  a  continuance  of  the  Levitical 
priesthood,  and  even  to  the  present  day,  in  all  essen- 
tial points,  except  the  mere  shedding  of  beastly  blood, 
this  doctrine  is  held  and  practiced  by  the  Romanists 
all  over  the  world.  This  failure  to  see  how  Christ  is 
a  new  dispensation ;  to  see  how  the  Christian  minis- 
try is  different  from  the  old  priesthood ;  failure  to 
see  how  the  one  was  typical  and  legal,  while  the  other 
13 


194  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


is  spiritual  and  persuasive,  has  caused  the  innumera- 
ble evils  in  the  union  of  Church  and  State,  and  led 
the  Roman  church  to  claim  the  political  supremacy 
of  the  world.  Christ  established  a  spiritual  king- 
dom, and  sent  out  a  spiritual  ministry  to  enlist  sub- 
jects for  this  kingdom.  This  ministry  is  worthy  of 
temporal  support  always  and  everywhere,  but  such 
is  the  earnestness  and  the  benevolence  of  the  Master 
that  He  will  not  for  a  moment  cease  to  have  sinners 
called,  even  at  His  own  expense  and  the  individual 
expense  of  His  lovely  messengers.  The  Spirit  spoken 
of  in  the  text  is  the  Great  Teacher  in  the  world  since 
the  Saviour's  return  to  the  heavenly  mansions. 

"  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come,"  and  every 
message  heralded  by  men  or  angels  must  be  sealed 
by  the  Spirit  sent  by  Christ  before  it  can  move  suc- 
cessfully the  stubborn  hearts  of  men. 

The  new  dispensation  is  infinitely  more  liberal 
than  men  generally  suppose,  and  the  divine  messen- 
gers vastly  more  numerous  than  the  ancient  priest- 
hood. The  Spirit  says  come ;  the  bride,  or  the  church, 
says  come.  And  now  a  word  as  to  the  church.  Chris- 
tianity is  essentially  social  in  its  nature,  and  hence 
extremely  organizing.  Wherever  these  truths  of  the 
New  Testament  are  preached,  men  begin  to  organize 
for  defence  and  for  aggressive  movement ;  but  it  is 
not  organization  that  gives  force  to  the  gospel — it  is 
the  gospel  that  gives  force  to  organization ;  and  it 
should  never  be  trammeled  by  excessive  organization. 

Methodism,  a  most  wonderful  organization  induced 
by  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  cannot  live  a  day  with- 


The  Gospel  Call.  195 


out  spirituality,  and  no  part  of  its  machinery,  whether 
it  be  the  class-meeting,  the  prayer-meeting,  the  itin- 
eracy, or  even  the  local  ministry,  can  be  relied  on 
for  the  salvation  of  the  church.  All  machinery  is 
good,  eminently  good  when  full  of  the  Spirit.  The 
bride  is  beautiful  when  adorned,  but  she  is  a  living 
power  when  filled  with  the  fires  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  church,  Christ's  lovely  bride,  says  come,  most 
effectually  when  most  infused  with  spirituality.  Then 
not  only  the  Spirit  itself  is  a  swift-winged  messenger? 
calling  men  from  every  clime  and  every  station  to 
drink  of  the  living  fountain,  but  the  church  in  her 
organized  and  spiritualized  capacity  appeals  in  lovely 
attitude  to  the  trembling,  sinking  sinner. 

Still  more  than  this,  every  son  or  daughter  hear- 
ing the  Spirit,  or  hearing  the  bride  say  come,  is  com- 
missioned at  once  to  catch  the  sweet  command  and 
echo  it  down  the  ages,  till  " come"  shall  be  changed 
from  a  command  to  a  hallelujah  of  praise,  saying, 
"  Lo  !  they  come  with  joy  and  everlasting  songs." 

But  over  the  hills  and  plains  are  found  the  millions 
of  wandering  thirsty  children,  athirst  for  the  waters  of 
life;  parched  and  weak,  weary  and  sinking,  fainting 
by  the  wayside,  fainting  in  the  fields  of  strife,  faint- 
ing in  the  crowded  thoroughfares,  fainting  in  the 
quiet  homes,  fainting  amid  those  that  should  be 
friends;  fainting,  not  from  the  scarcity  of  water,  faint- 
ing, not  of  dire  necessity  but  from  wilful  determin- 
ation, in  the  very  midst  of  pearly  brooks  and  crystal 
fountains,  within  the  gladsome  sound  of  life-giving 
waters,  surrounded  by  cooling  groves  and  shady 


196 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


lawns,  the  invigorating  element  above  and  below,  on 
the  right  and  on  the  left,  behind  and  before ;  the 
enchanting  gospel  sound  falling  softly  upon  the  ear 
thus,  "  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come  " — "  And  let 
him  that  is  athirst  come."  A  standing  invitation  is 
given  the  sinner.  Christ  is  not  formal.  Would  you 
wait  for  the  pious  prayers  of  some  mitred  priest? 
Would  you  wait  for  the  ceremonial  nourish  of  some 
robed  ritualist?  Would  you  wait  for  the  magic 
pool  of  some  baptismal  regenerationist  in  which  to 
be  plunged,  and  plunged  again  to  have  your  stains 
ell  washed  away  ?  Or  yet  more  slothful,  wTould  you 
wait  for  Lot's  kind  angel,  or  some  electionist  to  seize 
and  drag  you  to  the  fountain?  No!  no!  dying  sin- 
ner, no  — 

"  All  the  fitness  Christ  requireth, 
v  Is  to  feel  your  need  of  him." 

Come  while  you  thirst, 

"  If  you  tarry  till  you're  better, 
You  will  never  come  at  all." 

Oh !  lovely  attitude  of  the  heavenly  messenger — 
stretching  out  inviting  hands,  weeping  tears  of  pity 
for  your  lonely  condition,  enlightening  the  judg- 
ment, wooing  the  affections,  but  never,  for  a  moment, 
trampling  on  the  will,  the  guiding  power  of  the  mind. 
"  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  of  the  water  of 
life  freely."  How  free  is  your  condition  !  How  like 
the  invitation  to  that  of  a  father  to  his  children — like, 
because  it  had  no  restriction  but  says  "  whosoever  " ; 


The  Gospel  Call. 


197 


like  because  it  appeals  to  the  will.  "  Whosoever  will 
let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 

But  for  a  moment  let  us  take  another  view  of  the 
subject.  Formerly  the  subject  received  life — now  he 
is  invited  and  commanded  to  take  it  of  his  own 
accord.  Amid  the  darkness  that  preceded  the  flood, 
amid  the  direful  influences  of  surrounding  idolatry, 
from  the  flood  down  to  Egypt,  and  from  Egypt  back 
to  Canaan,  now  and  then  God  sent  His  angels,  as  to 
Lot  in  Sodom,  as  to  Jacob  at  Bethel,  as  to  Abraham 
on  the  mount  when  about  to  plunge  the  knife  into 
his  own  son — sent  His  angels  in  great  mercy  to  give 
life  and  protection  ;  and,  indeed,  the  whole  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  an  example  of  the  goodness  of  Deity 
pressed  upon  reluctant  man. 

But  suddenly  the  scene  changes.  Look,  ye  careless 
millions,  across  the  grassy  plains  of  Palestine.  See 
high  in  the  East  that  strange  yet  lovely  star.  Listen, 
ye  shepherds  that  nightly  watch  your  cheerful  flocks 
on  the  moonlit  plains  of  Judea.  And  while  that  star 
benignant  shines  down  on  Bethlehem,  and  while 
those  white-robed  angels  come  floating  over  the  quiet 
plains,  hear  ye  no  electric  news?  See  ye  no  signs  of 
the  world's  great  revolution  ? 

That  star  has  never  yet  gone  down,  but  rises 
higher  and  higher  to  guide  poor  sinners  home  ;  the 
songs  of  glory  that  burst  forth  upon  the  shepherds 
have  never  yet  been  hushed.  That  fountain  opened 
there  in  the  house  of  King  David  has  never  yet  been 
closed. 


198 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


From  that  very  moment  the  command  went  forth 
"  whosoever  will  let  him  come  and  take  the  water  of 
life  freely."  It  is  a  public  festival — a  national  festi- 
val— a  universal  festival  to  which  all  may  come 
and  feast  and  drink  and  drink  and  feast  until  the 
gates  of  heaven  shall  be  opened  and  the  wine  shall 
be  poured  out  anew  in  our  Father's  kingdom.  Was 
there  ever  such  invitation  ?  Was  there  ever  such 
festival  ?  Did  any  other  king  ever  invite  his  subjects 
to  such  a  universal  feast?  In  the  Garden  life  was  a 
tree  of  which  man  did  eat  and  live  ;  now  life  is  &  foun- 
tain, a  river,  along  whose  shady  banks  the  weary  sin- 
ner comes  for  peace — amid  whose  aromatic  groves 
millions  have  rested  and  quaffed  the  stream  and 
quaffed  the  stream  and  rested  till  inexpressible  joy 
lifts  the  heart  to  the  glories  of  the  New  Jerusalem. 
Blessed  be  Jesus,  all  may  "  take  the  water  freely." 

How  extensive,  then,  is  the  ministry !  Bishops 
may  call  us  to  the  fountain,  and  we  rejoice  in  the 
sound  of  such  trumpets.  Elders  may  sound  the 
sweet  refrain  from  the  walls  of  Zion,  and  we  hear  it 
with  gladness.  Deacons  may  shout  the  harvest  home, 
and  sing  with  the  enraptured  hosts  of  God's  children 
as  they  drink  of  the  healing  waters.  The  children  that 
hear  the  enchanting  melody  may  catch  the  glad 
sound  and  echo  it  down  the  living  stream.  Yea, 
sinners,  too,  far  off  upon  the  dark  mountains  of  sin, 
may  rush  to  the  cooling  waters,  singing  hosanna  to 
the  Lamb,  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  for  us.  The  paid 
herald  may  invite  to  the  fountain,  the  unpaid  mis- 
sionary, bearing  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day, 


The  Gospel  Call. 


199 


may  call  as  loudly  as  any.  The  final  settlement  for 
all  our  labors  is  yonder  amid  the  shady  groves. 

The  layman,  by  his  daily  walk  and  Godly  conver- 
sation, is  a  messenger  of  peace,  many  of  whom  will 
appear  at  the  stream  with  their  families  and  neigh- 
bors to  drink  forever.  And  every  woman  may  become 
a  Martha  or  a  Mary  ministering  to  Christ  and  His 
flock.  But  who  shall  reap  the  immortal  honors  that 
shall  be  awarded  the  leaders  of  the  Sabbath-school 
army — this  host  of  little  messengers  that  make  the 
world  echo  with  the  songs  of  peace  and  gladness?  In 
other  days  it  was  thought  right  and  proper  to  let  these 
lambs  stray  away  into  the  wilderness  for  many  years, 
that  God's  messengers  might  have  work  to  do  in  call- 
ing them  back  to  the  flock.  Alas!  how  many  mil- 
lions now  still  wander  away  from  the  voice  of  the 
heavenly  messenger,  and  wandering  on  will  never 
find  the  path  that  leads  up  Calvary's  hill  and  brings 
the  traveler  in  view  of  the  all-atoning  sacrifice. 

Christ  designed  that  these  lambs  should  not  only 
be  called  to  share  the  riches  of  His  grace,  but  also  to 
have  them  go  forth  singing  and  shouting  the  praises 
of  the  world's  Redeemer.  If  we  could  consider  the 
man  Christ  Jesus  only  as  the  infidels  of  the  present 
day  affect  to  view  Him,  a  man  simply  as  other  great 
men,  having  His  talents,  His  own  peculiar  wisdom, 
and  His  own  peculiar  history  like  other  men,  still 
we  should  be  compelled  to  award  the  praise  of  highest, 
deepest  wisdom,  when  at  one  stroke  of  policy  He 
placed  the  entire  infant  world  among  the  list  of  His 
subjects.    "  Of  such  is  the  kingdom."    The  children, 


200 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


embracing  more  than  half  the  entire  race  of  man, 
so  long  uncalled  for,  so  long  forgotten  and  neglected 
by  great  men,  are  gathered  into  the  arms  of  the  man 
Christ  Jesus,  enrolled  on  the  list  of  the  redeemed 
and  sent  forth  as  fit  and  lovely  representatives  of 
the  white-robed  millions  that  dwell  around  the 
Father's  throne.  "  Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and 
sucklings,  God  has  ordained  praise."  No  other  leader 
has  so  many  ministers  as  our  Captain ;  and  those 
men  who  would  strip  the  divinity  from  Christ,  only 
show  their  utter  ignorance,  wickedness  and  stupidity. 

But  our  text  breathes  naming  words  of  missionary 
zeal.  The  cry  is  "Come,"  and  as  each  listener  heais 
the  joyful  invitation,  he  is  commanded  to  echo  it  to 
to  those  around  until  all  that  thirst  shall  be  filled 
with  the  free  water  of  life. 

The  age  is  hastening  on  to  a  glorious  consumma- 
tion. Soon  the  era  will  be  upon  us  when  it  shall 
not  be  inquired,  Where  is  Christ,  and  who  are  His 
ministers?  Those  denominations  that  put  only  a 
paid  force  in  the  field  and  earnestly  pray  God  to  call 
only  such  and  as  many  as  can  be  supported,  will 
soon  be  left  in  the  dim  distance  of  the  past. 

Those  that  prate  about  apostolic  succession,  and 
would  hardly  invite  the  sinner  only  after  the  most 
formal  introduction,  and  would  shun  to  enter  the 
gates  of  glory  only  in  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance 
of  a  conqueror;  these  and  all  such  must  stand  back 
and  let  the  army  of  living  messengers  sweep  the 
inviting  field. 


The  Gospel  Call. 


201 


The  Methodist  church,  whatever  faults  she  may 
have  in  theology,  whatever  defects  in  the  ritualism 
of  her  machinery,  has,  nevertheless,  in  some  desira- 
ble measure  caught  the  great  liberal  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity. We  recognize  every  man,  woman  and  child 
of  the  church  as  a  herald  of  the  Cross;  and  while 
we  have  our  Bishops  and  pastors  paid  by  the  church, 
and  must  ever  have  them  to  develop  the  liberality 
of  our  people,  the  command  of  the  text  is  too  broad, 
the  invitation  too  fall  to  restrict  the  number  of  mes- 
sengers. The  fires  of  a  Saviour's  love  set  all  the 
world  to  preaching  the  wonderful  doctrine.  Oh!  it 
is  life  awaits  us.  It  is  death  we  fear — it  is  life  we 
seek.  The  water  that  fills  that  beautiful  river,  that 
comes  like  silvery  waves  down  from  the  everlasting 
throne  is  the  "  water  of  life."  Drink  of  it,  ye  thirsty 
sinners ;  drink  of  it,  ye  royal  heads  of  the  earth  ; 
drink  of  it,  ye  famished  soldiers  that  fight  the  bat- 
tles of  ambitious  potentates ;  drink,  again,  and  deeper 
and  longer,  ye  members  of  Christ's  church  militant; 
drink  of  it,  ye  little  children  that  adorn  the  family 
circle  and  swell  the  Sabbath-school  chorus  till  the 
welkin  rings  again  ;  drink  of  it,  one  and  all  of  these, 
drink  till  you  thirst  no  more  forever.  Yes,  freely.  It 
was  given  freely.  It  flows  as  the  free  gift  of  a  free 
Saviour.  Let  no  other  duty  intrude.  Come,  ye  wasted 
famished  swearer,  polluted  by  the  oaths  of  a  score  of 
years,  and  freely  quaff  the  water ;  come  ye  skeptics  of 
many  sorrowing  days,  who  have  failed  to  find  joy  in 
the  logic  of  infidelity;  we  offer  you  to-day,  "  without 
money  and  without  price,"  the  healing  water;  come, 


202 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


all  ye  young  men  and  young  ladies  of  undoubted 
morality,  who  have  trusted  in  your  good  behavior  to 
gain  you  entrance  to  glory — you,  even  you,  need  the 
life-giving  water;  and  as  you  sink  your  empty  pitch- 
ers into  the  stream,  and  as  you  taste  and  taste  again, 
yes,  drink  and  drink  again  of  this  magic  flood,  burst 
forth  ye  imprisoned  soul !  sing  out,  ye  stifled  voices ! 
break  forth,  ye  buried  emotions  of  the  soul !  Yes,  then 
all  earth,  both  men  and  God  and  angels  and  spirits 
and  Christ  will  join  to  swell  the  everlasting  song. 
Then  you  shall  thirst  no  more.  Oh,  how  free !  And 
now  ye  may  warn  travelers  in  Zion's  way.  Ye  men 
of  age,  whose  cheeks  are  furrowed  with  the  cares  of 
many  years;  ye  humble  Christian  men,  who  love 
beneath  the  cross  to  stand  ;  ye  quiet  sisters  of  the 
church,  whose  trials  have  been  long  and  sore;  ye 
young  soldiers  of  Christ's  living  army,  whose  youth- 
ful cheeks  are  still  flushed  with  hope  and  manly 
vigor — yes,  come  all  these  at  the  call  of  the  silvery 
gospel  sound.  Come  to-day  ;  come  now,  and  taste  the 
limpid  stream. 

We  shall  drink  it  forever  up  yonder.  Now,  while 
we  lift  our  hearts  to  ask  for  golden  drops  and  spirit- 
food  for  days  to  come,  in  one  united  emotion  we  will 
draw  nigh  the  flowing  stream.  Yea,  when  we  have 
filled  our  thirsty  souls  again  here  to-day,  these  self- 
sacrificing  ministers,  these  faithful  laymen  of  the 
church,  these  Marthas  and  Marys  who  love  to  anoint 
the  Saviour's  feet,  these  children  of  the  church — all, 
all,  all !  with  sweet  accord  will  go  forth  proclaiming 
the  glorious  news  of  the  text,  "And  the  spirit  and 


Christ  and  the  Church. 


203 


the  bride  say  come ;  and  let  him  that  heareth  say 
come.  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come.  And  who- 
soever will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 


CHRIST  AND  THE  CHURCH. 

By  Rev.  W.  W.  Staley, 
Of  the  Christian  Church. 


"  I  speak  concerning  Christ  and  the  church."  Ephesians  v:  32. 

The  married  state  is  one  of  separation,  unity,  order, 
affection.  "  For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his 
father  and  mother;"  "and  they  two  shall  be  one 
flesh;"  "  for  the  husband  is  the  head  of  the  wife  ;" 
and  "  men  ought  to  love  their  wives." 

These  principles  are  the  fountains  of  purity,  peace 
and  happiness.  They  are  the  pillars  on  which  the 
social  fabric  and  civil  nations  rest.  "  This  is  a  great 
mystery;  "  but  Paul  is  speaking  concerning  "  Christ 
and  the  church."  The  relation  of  the  church  to 
Christ  is  one  of  separation  from  the  world,  unity  among 
the  members,  order  in  life,  and  love  one  to  another.  All 
that  the  church  has  belongs  to  Christ,  and  all  that 
Christ  has  belongs  to  the  church.  The  relationship  is 
mutual,  and  can  only  be  maintained  by  fidelity  on 
the  part  of  the  "  Lamb's  wife."  Mysteries  disappear 
when  truth  is  viewed  from  the  inner  courts  of  its 
own  temple ;  and  experience  is  the  only  door  into 
the  relation  between  "  Christ  and  the  church." 


204  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


1.  The  entire  volume  of  Scripture  is  divine  speech  con- 
cerning 11  Christ  and  the  church,"  In  that  afternoon 
walk,  with  the  two  going  to  Emmaus,  Jesus  discoursed 
about  Himself.  "  And  beginning  at  Moses,  and  all 
the  prophets,  He  expounded  unto  them  in  all  the 
Scriptures,  the  things  concerning  Himself"  "  Search 
the  Scriptures;  for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal 
life;  and  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me."  "For 
the  testimony  of  Jesus  is  the  spirit  of  prophecy" 
"  God,  who,  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners, 
spake  in  time  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets, 
hath  in  these  last  days  spoken  unto  us  by  His  Son." 

2.  The  essential  qualification  of  the  true  church  is  the 
presence  of  Christ  as  its  life  and  head.  "  This  is  He, 
that  was  in  the  church  in  the  wilderness,  with  the 
angel  which  spake  to  Him  in  Mount  Sinai,  and  with 
our  fathers ;  who  received  the  lively  oracles  to  give 
unto  us."  "  For  they  drank  of  that  spiritual  Rock 
that  followed  them,  and  that  Rock  was  Christ." 
He  is  always  the  central  figure  in  the  church.  "  And 
there  shall  be  no  night  there,  and  they  need  no  can- 
dle, neither  light  of  the  sun ;  for  the  Lord  God  giv- 
eth  them  light;  and  they  shall  reign  forever  and 
ever." 

3.  The  church,  in  the  conception  of  God,  is  worthy  to 
become  the  bride  of  Christ.  A  great  painting,  as  seen 
by  an  artist  and  one  who  is  not,  presents  two  pic- 
tures. To  the  artist  the  painting  is  a  masterpiece, 
beautiful  in  design,  significant  in  conception,  won- 
derful in  outline,  perfect  in  proportions  ;  to  the  other 
it  is  only  a  mass  of  colors  thrown  together,  with  no 


Christ  and  the  Church. 


205 


charm,  no  purpose,  no  meaning.  A  sinful  world 
sees  only  the  faults  and  failures,  the  imperfections 
and  inconsistencies  of  the  church.  God  sees  His 
design,  His  purpose,  His  work,  in  her  possibilities. 
Michael  Angelo  was  seen  to  pull  a  rough  block  of 
marble  from  the  filthy  gutter,  and  he  was  criticised 
by  those  who  looked  on.  But  the  great  artist  said: 
(( I  see  an  angel  in  this  stone ; "  and  he  went  to  work 
with  his  chisel  and  brought  the  angel  out  of  it.  He 
saw  what  others  did  not,  and  he  developed  what  he 
saw.  God  looks  at  the  church  and  sees  possibilities; 
and  if  the  church  will  submit  to  Him,  He  will  bring 
out  and  present  to  Himself  a  "  glorious  church,  not 
having  spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing ;  but  holy 
and  without  blemish" 

I.  The  Christ  of  Scripture  is  the  personal  manifestation 
of  all  the  divinest  and  humanest  principles  essential 
to  the  noblest  character  and  the  best  society. 

1.  He  sets  before  men,  in  Himself,  His  nature,  char- 
acter, and  work.  He  presents  the  divine  nature  and 
the  human  nature  at  the  climacteric  point.  "  God 
was  manifested  in  the  flesh."  At  the  marriage  in 
Cana  Christ  "  manifested  forth  His  glory."  His 
character  was  untarnished  by  the  world.  "  For  He 
hath  made  Him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin ; 
that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
Him."  Artists  place  before  their  pupils  a  perfect 
piece  of  art,  reduced  to  dimensions  suited  to  their 
work,  and  call  it  a  "study."  Christ  is  i(the  study" 
for  man.    He  is  the  miniature  of  God,  with  a  human 


206  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


life  as  the  medium  of  the  Divine  manifestation. 
"  Learn  of  me,"  sums  up  man's  duty  in  his  search 
after  spiritual  light  and  truth.  "  In  whom  are  hid  all 
the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge."  His  work 
embraces  no  less  than  the  comfort  of  the  mourner  and 
the  salvation  of  the  lost.  "  He  came  not  to  call  the 
righteous,  but  sinners."  In  the  synagogue  in  Nazareth 
on  the  Sabbath,  He  stood  up,  opened  the  book  and 
read:  " The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because 
He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the 
poor;  He  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to 
preach  deliverance  to  the  captives  and  recovering  of 
sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised"  This  outline  of  His  work  challenges  the 
thought  and  faith  of  the  world.  He  proposes  to 
alleviate  all  the  burdens  of  man,  and  to  remove  the 
guilt  of  sin  from  all  that  believe  in  Him.  His  work 
is  so  broad,  so  philanthropic,  so  full  of  salvation, 
that  the  white-robed  throng  in  heaven  surround  his 
throne  with  the  highest  and  holiest  praise.  "And  I 
heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude, 
and  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice 
of  mighty  thunderings,  saying,  Hallelujah:  for  the 
Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth." 

2.  He  fulfills  prophecy,  reduces  ritualism  to  life> 
and  rebukes  caste  and  exclusiveness  by  His  teach- 
ings and  walk  among  men.  "Lo,  I  come;  in  the 
volume  of  the  book  it  is  written  of  me,  I  delight  to 
do  thy  will  0  my  God ;  yea,  thy  law  is  within  my 
heart."  "Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the 
law  or  the  prophets :  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but 


Christ  and  the  Church.  207 


to  fulfill."  The  Old  Testament,  as  well  as  the  New, 
is  God's  word  to  man ;  and  Christ  put  the  seal  of 
his  life  on  this  word.  When  the  Pharisees  and  cer- 
tain Scribes  found  fault  with  His  disciples  because 
they  ate  with  unwashed  hands  and  walked  not  accord- 
ing to  the  tradition  of  the  elders,  Jesus  replied, "  This 
people  honoreth  me  wTith  their  lips,  but  their  heart  is 
from  me.  There  is  nothing  from  without  a  man 
that,  entering  into  him,  can  defile  him ;  but  the 
things  which  come  out  of  him,  those  are  they  that 
defile  the  man."  The  life  and  not  the  form  de- 
termines character  The  Jewish  church  was  ex- 
clusive in  its  thoughts  and  customs.  Jews  and 
Samaritans  had  no  dealings.  Jews  excluded  Gen- 
tiles, and  did  not  admit  them  to  the  privileges  of 
their  religion.  "  I  have  never  eaten  anything  com- 
mon or  unclean,"  said  Peter,  when  he  saw  the  vision. 
But  the  call  from  Cornelius  interpreted  the  mystery, 
and  when  he  preached  in  Cesarea  the  word  was 
blessed  abundantly.  "And  they  of  the  circumcision 
which  believed  were  astonished,  as  many  as  came 
wTith  Peter,  because  that  on  the  Gentiles  also  was 
poured  out  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Jesus  never 
failed  to  recognize  any  who  believed  on  Him.  To 
accept  Christ  by  faith,  and  to  follow  Him  in  life, 
embraces  the  essential  thing  in  religion.  Forms, 
theories,  modes,  may  have  their  place  in  the  church, 
but  Christ  is  the  bread  of  life  to  men.  The  church 
should  be  as  inclusive  as  Christ.  He  not  only  did 
not  exclude  Jew  and  Gentile,  but  publicans  and 
sinners,  thieves  and  harlots,  found  welcome  and  par- 


208 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


don  in  His  heart.  His  life  became  their  salvation, 
and  their  life  His  praise.  The  gospel  is  a  system  of 
open  arms,  of  cordial  heart,  of  world-wide  benevo- 
lence, of  peace  and  good-will  to  men.  All  these 
were  exhibited  in  the  person  of  Christ.  He  excludes 
nothing  but  sin,  as  light  excludes  nothing  but  dark- 
ness. 

3.  Christ  presents  the  possibilities  of  humanity, 
under  the  inspiration  of  the  divine  presence,  and 
invites  all  men  to  follow  Him  as  their  guide. 

The  incarnation  is  not  only  a  manifestation  of  God, 
but  of  humanity.  He  shows  man  himself,  not  only 
as  he  is,  but  in  his  possibilities.  Sin  was  never  seen 
in  its  alarming  aspects  till  Christ  set  the  perfect  type 
before  men.  Even  the  church  and  religion  of  the 
time  were  outward  forms  without  life.  Hear  Christ, 
as  He  addresses  the  church  :  "  Woe  unto  you,  scribes 
and  Pharises,  hypocrites !  for  ye  shut  up  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  against  men:  for  ye  neither  go  in 
yourselves,  neither  suffer  ye  them  that  are  entering 
to  go  in.  Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hyp- 
ocrites! for  ye  devour  widows'  houses,  and  for  a  pre- 
tence make  long  prayers :  therefore  ye  shall  receive 
the  greater  damnation."  Christ  confronted  this 
heartless,  formal  church  with  a  warm,  loving,  help- 
ing life.  His  character  was  sweet  and  attractive. 
His  work  was  full  of  help  to  men.  He  made  them 
see  the  beauty  and  power  of  a  good,  true  life.  His 
teachings  and  purity  revealed  the  damning  nature 
of  sin ;  and  at  the  same  time  discovered  to  men  the 
way  out  of  darkness  into  the  light  of  God.  Human 


Christ  and  the  Church. 


209 


nature,  under  this  inspiration  of  the  divine  presence, 
may  become  perfect  in  doctrine  and  practice.  It  was 
so  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ.  "  He  was  tempted 
in  all  points  like  as  we  are,  yet  ivithout  sin."  God 
might  have  chosen  some  other  method  of  manifest- 
ing Himself,  but  He  could  have  chosen  no  other 
method  of  so  completely  manifesting  the  possibili- 
ties of  man.  Man  is  capable  of  a  sinless  life,  and 
that  life  will  be  attained  in  heaven.  "  The  sting  of 
death  is  sin  ;  and  the  strength  of  sin  is  the  law.  But 
thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  ChrM."  Christ  invites  men  to  follow 
Him.  "If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him 
deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me." 
Following  Christ  involves  self-denial  and  suffering. 
"  If  any  man  suffer  as  a  Christian  let  him  not  be 
ashamed."  To  choose  suffering  for  duty's  sake  marks 
the  hero.  It  was  the  choice  of  Moses,  and  Christ, 
our  Captain,  was  made  perfect  through  suffering. 
The  Hebrew  children  could  pass  through  the  fur- 
nace untouched  by  fire  because  there  was  a  fourth 
with  them  like  unto  the  "Son  of  God."  Paul  may 
be  driven  by  the  storm  for  fourteen  days  and  nights 
without  sun  and  stars,  but  in  the  midst  of  howling 
tempest  and  despairing  men  he  utters  words  of  cheer: 
"Be  of  good  cheer,  for  there  shall  be  no  loss  of  any 
man's  life  among  you,  but  of  the  ship.  For  there 
stood  by  me  this  night  the  angel  of  God,  whose  I 
am,  and  whom  I  serve." 


14 


210 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


II.  The  church  of  Scripture  is  the  organized  presentation 
of  the  wisest  and  inquest  principles  for  the  gov- 
ernment and  well  being  of  man. 

1.  The  principles  of  the  gospel  are  universal  in 
their  design  and  adaptation.  "  God  sent  not  His 
Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the  world;  but  that 
the  world,  through  Him,  might  be  saved."  The 
design  of  the  gospel  is  to  save  the  world;  and  it  is  to 
be  preached  to  every  creature.  In  the  final  purpose  of 
grace  there  will  be  a  "new  earth."  Regenerate 
humanity  will  regenerate  the  world.  "  The  law  of 
the  Lord  is  perfect."  It  is  adapfed  to  all  times  and 
conditions.  It  converts  the  soul  and  puts  it  under 
grace.  It  differs  from  all  the  laws  made  by  men. 
There  are  no  inequalities  in  it,  and  no  chance  for 
injustice  to  the  humblest  man  on  earth.  It  is 
adjustable  like  all  of  God's  blessings.  Air  and  light 
are  self-adjusting  to  all  conditions  of  earth ;  and  gospel 
principles  are  even  more  adjustable  to  the  moral  con- 
ditions of  the  soul.  It  courts  investigation  and  trial, 
welcomes  the  challenge  of  the  world,  and  encircles 
the  spacious  globe  with  its  bands  of  mercy  and  love. 
It  penetrates  the  heart  and  arrests  the  man  by  his 
conscience,  and  makes  him  tremble  in  the  presence 
of  himself.  It  tries  the  sinner  in  the  court-chamber 
of  his  own  being,  and  makes  him  plead  for  mercy  or 
stand  condemned  by  himself,  and  "  if  our  heart  con- 
demn us,  God  is  greater  than  our  heart,  and  knoweth 
all  things."  Here  is  the  only  realm  of  character 
building,  and  the  only  court  where  truth  is  free. 
Weightier  than  any  cause  of  man  and  time  are  the 


Christ  and  the  Church. 


211 


issues  weighed  in  the  heart  when  the  gospel  makes 
its  plea. 

2.  The  elements  composing  the  historic  church  are 
witnesses  to  the  perfection  of  its  purposes  and  meth- 
ods. "  Not  many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many 
mighty,  not  many  noble,  are  called ;  but  God  hath 
chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound 
the  ivise;  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of 
the  world  to  confound  the  things  that  are  mighty" 
The  obscure  have  furnished  the  material  out  of  which 
the  gospel  has  moulded  the  noblest  types  of  charac- 
ter, even  as  nature*  crystalizes  the  diamond  out  of 
black  carbon.  Simple  fishermen,  under  its  trans- 
forming power,  turned  the  thought  and  destiny  of 
nations;  and  a  return  to  the  principles  of  faith 
mothered  the  reformation.  The  making  of  great 
things  out  of  poor  elements  proves  the  greatness  of 
the  processes.  The  gospel  first  introduced  this  prin- 
ciple, and  now  science  and  art  follow  its  example. 
Useful  products  from  useless  material  is  now  the 
order  of  progress.  This  simply  answers  to  the  de- 
mand of  the  gospel,  and  proves  that  the  world  is 
coming  to  Christ.  Radiant  as  the  sunbeams  of 
morning  reflected  from  myriads  of  dew-drops,  sphered 
in  tiny  worlds  of  brightness,  and  hanging  on  grass 
and  corn-field  and  flower,  are  the  principles  of  the 
gospel  as  they  announce  their  presence  and  sway  in 
the  church,  composed  of  those  who  were  once  "with- 
out hope  and  without  God  in  the  world."  The  poor 
have  the  gospel  preached  to  them.  Sinners  are  con- 
verted into  heirs  of  salvation.  The  maniac  is  clothed 


212 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


and  in  his  right  mind.  The  thief  enters  Paradise 
with  his  Saviour.  The  church  had  its  origin  in  the 
Divine  thought,  is  founded  on  Christ,  and  stands  as 
a  refuge  for  sinners. 

3.  The  functions  and  work  of  the  church  are  lim- 
ited only  by  its  reception  and  application  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ.  Service  and  sacrifice  marked  the  his- 
tory of  Christ  in  the  world.  "Though  he  was  rich, 
yet  for  your  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  ye  through 
his  poverty  might  be  rich."  "  And  whosoever  will 
be  rich  among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant:  even 
as  the  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for 
many."  There  is  nothing  plainer  than  that  the 
church  should  impoverish  itself  to  enrich  the  world; 
and  work  is  its  badge  and  the  charter  of  its  right  to 
exist.  To  grow  rich  or  self-righteous  is  to  die.  The 
home  is  endangered  when  the  bride  antagonizes  the 
love  and  efforts  of  her  husband :  so  the  interests  of 
Zion  are  hindered  when  the  church  ignores  the  love 
and  work  of  Christ.  If  Christ  suffered,  the  church 
must  suffer;  if  Christ  gave  His  life  to  save  sinners, 
so  must  the  church.  The  church  is  joined  by  eternal 
wedlock  to  Christ.  If  He  was  conqueror,  the  church 
will  finally  prevail. 


The  Great  Business  of  Life. 


213 


THE  GREAT  BUSINESS  OF  LIFE. 

By  Rev.  R.  H.  Whitaker,  D.  D., 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Local  Ministers'  Conference. 


"  Fear  God  and  keep  his  commandments,  for  this  is  the  whole  duty 
of  man."— Ecclesiastes  xii :  13. 

The  first,  and  the  all-important,  question  which 
confronts  every  human  being  born  into  the  world,  is, 
"What  is  the  great  business  of  life?"  The  text 
answers  that  question :  "  Fear  God  and  keep  his  com- 
mandments." 

The  poet  who  wrote — 

"  'Tis  not  all  of  life  to  live, 
Nor  all  of  death  to  die," 

had  beeh  studying  this  life-problem,  and  had  rightly 
reached  the  conclusion  that  life  means  a  great  deal 
more  than  simply  trying  to  get  the  best  things  which 
earth  can  bestow;  that  there  is  something  higher, 
nobler,  grander,  holier  to  engage  the  thoughts  of 
mortals  than  those  allurements  of  time  and  sense 
which,  at  the  best,  can  do  us  no  good  when  Death 
lays  his  hand  upon  us. 

The  Saviour  of  men  gave  to  the  world  the  key- 
note when  He  said,  "Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treas- 
ures upon  earth,  where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt, 
and  where  thieves  break  through  and  steal.  But  lay 
up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven  where  neither 
moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt  and  where  thieves  do 
not  break  through  nor  steal.     *     *    *    Take  no 


214  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


thought  for  your  life,  *  *  *  But  seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  things 
else  shall  be  added  unto  you." 

If  we  would  make  life  a  success,  we  should  first 
decide  the  question,  What  is  success? 

Viewed  from  a  worldly  standpoint,  every  selfish 
or  ambitious  man  who,  through  fortuitous  circum- 
stances, or  by  shrewdness,  or  even  by  the  use  of  baser 
means,  succeeds  in  making  fame  or  fortune,  is  con- 
sidered "  a  success." 

Were  this  life  all,  this  conflict  between  men  for 
wealth  and  honor  the  only  test  of  manhood,  and 
the  only  requirement  of  God,  the  world's  standard 
of  success  would  be  correct.  But  when  we  remem- 
ber that  just  ahead  of  us  is  death,  and  the  resurrec- 
tion, and  the  judgment,  and  the  eternal  future,  the 
world's  standard  of  what  constitutes  success  is  a  fear- 
ful delusion. 

I  would  not  discourage  the'  desire  which  prompts 
men  to  accumulate,  or  to  elevate  themselves  in  the 
world ;  neither  would  I  discourage  them  from  seek- 
ing to  be  leaders  among  their  fellows  (for  there  must 
be  thinkers  and  leaders  in  the  world),  but  I  would 
draw  as  sharply  as  I  may  be  able  a  contrast  between 
that  success  which  satisfies  the  world  on  the  one 
hand,  and  that  success  which  will  secure  the  plaudit 
of  "  well  done"  when  man  meets  his  God. 

I  know  not  how  better  to  do  this  than  by  intro- 
ducing two  Bible  characters  whose  lives  were  as  oppo- 
site as  the  poles.  I  allude  to  Solomon  of  the  Old. 
Testament  and  St.  Paul  of  the  New. 


The  Great  Business  of  Life.  215 


Solomon's  life,  measured  by  the  world's  standard, 
was  a  magnificent  success.  Measured  by  the  same 
standard,  St.  Paul's  was  a  most  miserable  failure. 

When  the  world  reads  that  Solomon  ascended  the 
throne  of  his  father  David  under  the  most  favorable 
auspices ;  that  he  was  endowed  with  more  wisdom 
than  any  man  or  monarch  of  his  day;  that  he  so 
prospered  that  he  became  the  richest  as  well  as  the 
wisest  king  in  all  the  earth;  that  he  reigned  over 
Israel  forty  years,  living  in  such  luxury  as  no  other 
king  was  able  to  imitate;  that  he  became  the  most 
renowned  of  all  the  kings  of  his  day,  and  finally 
died  amid  the  splendor  in  which  he  had  so  long 
lived,  it  involuntarily  exclaims,  "What  a  grand  suc- 
cess was  Solomon's  life! " 

On  the  other  hand,  when  the  world  reads  that  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  the  proud  Pharisee,  after  having  been  care- 
fully reared  and  educated  in  the  faith  of  his  fathers, 
renounced  the  teachings  of  his  youth  to  become  the 
disciple  of  the  despised  Nazarene,  which  act  sub- 
jected him  to  cold,  hunger  and  all  sorts  of  privations; 
estranged  him  from  home,  relatives  and  friends,  and 
sent  him  forth  a  wanderer  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth  ;  resulted  in  stripes,  imprisonment,  shipwreck, 
and  that  finally  he  was  beheaded  by  order  of  the 
Emperor  Nero;  its  verdict  is,  "What  a  miserable 
failure  was  the  life  of  Paul !  " 

If  vast  possessions,  earthly  wisdom,  luxurious  liv- 
ing and  far-reaching  fame  constitute  success,  then, 
indeed,  was  Solomon's  life  a  most  magnificent  suc- 
cess. 


216 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


On  the  other  hand,  if  suffering  persecutions,  en- 
during hardships,  being  often  imprisoned,  and, 
finally,  being  beheaded,  constitute  a  failure,  St.  Paul's 
life  was  a  most  stupendous  failure. 

But  which  of  these  two  lives  was  the  successful 
one?  This  is  the  question  we  propose  to  answer  in 
this  discourse ;  or,  rather,  let  the  two  men  answer 
for  themselves. 

In  his  earlier  life,  when  in  the  full  flash  of  man- 
hood and  royal  greatness,  Solomon  seems  not  to  have 
comprehended,  as  he  did  at  a  later  period  when  he 
wrote  my  text,  what  constitutes  the  great  business  of 
life.  For,  in  his  old  age,  after  he  had  spent  a  life  in 
the  pursuit  of  pleasure,  he  wrote  a  book  for  no  other 
reason  that  we  can  conceive  of  than  to  make  a  con- 
fession of  his  sins,  and  warn  the  young  men  of  all 
ages  against  making  the  mistakes  which  made  his 
life  such  an  utter  failure.  In  substance,  he  says :  "  I, 
the  Preacher,  was  king  over  Israel  in  Jerusalem, 
having  inherited  the  throne  from  my  father  David, 
whom  God  loved  ;  and  no  young  king  ever  ascended 
a  throne  under  more  favorable  auspices;  for,  added 
to  all  the  other  favorable  circumstances  and  condi- 
tions, I  was  the  anointed  of  God  who  took  special 
delight  in  me  and  the  people  over  whom  I  ruled. 
But,  instead  of  staying  my  heart  upon  God,  and 
doing  the  things  which  He  commanded,  I  gave  my 
heart  to  seek  and  search  out  wisdom  concerning  all 
the  things  that  are  done  under  heaven.  I  wanted 
to  be  wise  above  my  fellow-men,  and  I  wanted  this 
superior  wisdom,  not  because  I  desired  to  use  it  for 


The  Great  Business  of  Life.  217 

the  good  of  humanity  and  the  glory  of  God,  but 
because  of  the  pleasure  it  might  afford  me.  So  I 
left  nothing  undone  that  would  add  to  my  store  of 
knowledge  until  I  had  seen  or  known  of  all  the 
works  under  the  sun.  At  length,  I  communed  with 
mine  own  heart,  saying,  Lo!  Iam  come  to  great 
estate,  and  have  gotten  more  wisdom  than  all  they 
that  have  been  in  Jerusalem;  yea,  my  heart  had 
great  experience  of  wisdom  and  knowledge ;  but,  to 
my  great  disappointment,  I  found,  after  all  the  efforts 
I  had  made  to  get  wisdom,  that  in  much  wisdom  is 
much  grief,  and  he  that  increaseth  knowledge  in- 
creaseth  sorrow.  That,  after  all,  it  was  but  vanity 
and  vexation  of  spirit." 

Failing  to  find  that  pleasure  which  he  supposed 
great  knowledge  would  give,  he  tells  us  that  he  tried 
another  experiment.  He  says,  "  I  said  in  my  heart, 
Go  to  now,  I  will  prove  thee  with  mirth ;  therefore  1 
gave  myself  unto  wine,  yet  acquainting  my  heart 
with  wisdom."  In  other  words,  he  thought  he  could 
drink  wine  and  be  mirthful  and  yet  continue  to  grow 
in  knowledge.  But  finding  that  to  be  a  failure,  he 
partially,  if  not  entirely,  left  off  the  getting  of  any 
more  knowledge,  and  resorted  more  frequently  to  the 
wine-cup,  drawing  about  him  what  the  world  would 
call  gay  companions ;  and  we  may  conclude,  from 
the  statement  he  makes,  that  he  sowed  wild  oats  as 
madly  as  ever  a  reckless  young  man  did.  But  he 
tells  us  that  it  failed  of  bringing  him  happiness;  that 
it,  also,  was  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit. 


218  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


Not  to  be  outdone,  he  resorted  to  another  means 
to  secure  happiness.  He  says,  "  I  made  me  great 
works;  I  built  houses,  planted  vineyards,  made  me 
gardens,  planting  trees  in  them  of  all  kinds  of  fruits; 
made  pools  of  water  to  water  therewith  the  wood 
that  bringeth  forth  trees ;  got  me  servants  and  maid- 
ens, and  had  servants  born  in  my  house.  I  also  had 
great  possessions  of  great  and  small  cattle  above  all 
that  were  ever  in  Jerusalem ;  I  gathered  also  silver 
and  gold  in  great  abundance ;  and  then,  that  I  might 
enjoy  my  vast  possessions,  I  got  me  men  and  women 
singers,  and  bought  all  kinds  of  musical  instruments, 
that  I  might  have  the  very  best  music  which  the 
world  could  afford  me.  In  short,  whatsoever  mine 
eyes  desired,  I  kept  not  from  them.  I  withheld  not 
my  heart  from  any  joy." 

After  hearing  his  statement  the  world  may  say, 
"  Surely,  Solomon's  life  was  a  success ! "  But  Solo- 
mon contradicts  that  opinion.  Hear  him,  after  he 
had  gotten  everything  that  eye  desired  or  heart 
coveted : 

"  Then  I  looked  upon  all  the  works  that  my  hands 
had  wrought,  and  on  the  labor  that  I  had  labored 
to  do;  and  behold  all  was  vanity  and  vexation  of 
spirit,  and  there  was  no  profit  under  the  sun."  His 
works  had  amounted  to  nothing,  for  the  reason  that 
he  labored  to  make  Solomon  happy,  not  caring  for 
others.  And,  remembering  that  he  must  soon  die 
and  leave  all  his  greatness  and  grandeur  and  the 
results  of  his  toil,  he  says :  "  I  hated  all  the  labor 
which  I  had  taken  under  the  sun,  because  I  must 


The  Great  Business  of  Life.  219 


leave  them  unto  the  man  that  shall  come  after  me. 
And  who  knoweth  whether  he  shall  be  a  wise  man  or  a 
fool  ?  "  Oppressed  with  grief  and  shame,  because  of  his 
mistakes  and  sins,  Solomon  wrote  the  book  of  Eccle- 
siastes  that  he  might  utter  a  solemn  warning  to  the 
youth  of  all  ages  and  encourage  them  to  a  better  life 
than  he  lived.  To  that  end  he  says :  "  Cast  thy  bread 
upon  the  waters,  and  thou  shalt  find  it  after  many 
days."  By  which  he  means  to  teach  the  young  man 
who  may  thirst  after  knowledge,  fame,  riches  or 
pleasure,  that  work  done  for  God  and  his  fellow- 
men  will  pay  him  back  in  blessings  after  many 
days;  while  that  done  to  gratify  one's  selfish  desires 
is  as  so  much  labor  lost.  He  means  to  say,  if  God 
endows  thee,  young  man,  with  great  wisdom,  use  it 
to  make  the  world  better  and  happier,  instead  of 
using  it  in  the  effort  to  make  yourself  happy,  as  I, 
Solomon,  did,  and  failed. 

If  God  gives  thee  riches,  use  them  to  scatter  seeds 
of  righteousness,  that  the  world  may  be  speedily 
brought  to  a  knowledge  of  God,  instead  of  making 
them  the  means  of  a  luxurious  living,  as  I,  Solomon, 
did,  to  my  sorrow. 

If  God  gires  thee  great  social  and  official  influ- 
ence, use  it  in  propagating  and  disseminating  pure 
principles,  instead  of  compromising  and  finally  wast- 
ing it  all  as  I,  Solomon,  did,  in  the  company  of  idol- 
atrous women. 

I,  Solomon,  made  a  mistake  at  the  start ;  but  I 
would  not  have  the  youth  who  read  of  my  greatness 
and  glory  make  a  similar  one.    Therefore,  in  my  old 


220  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


age,  and  in  my  sins,  I  feel  constrained  to  say  to  the 
youth  of  all  succeeding  generations,  "  Remember 
now  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,  while  the 
evil  days  come  not,  nor  the  years  draw  nigh  when 
thou  shalt  say,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  them." 

You  may  rejoice,  0,  young  man,  in  your  youth, 
and  walk  in  the  ways  of  your  heart  (as  I,  Solomon, 
have  done  to  my  sorrow),  but  know  ye  that  for  all 
these  things  God  will  bring  you  into  judgment.  In 
my  old  age  I  see  and  acknowledge  m}^  mistake.  I 
now  understand  what  it  is  to  live  in  this  world  ; 
what  the  great  business  of  life  really  is;  what  it  is 
that  constitutes  a  successful  life;  and  I  would  warn 
the  world  against  the  mistake  I  have  made.  "  Let 
us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter :  "  Fear 
God  and  keep  his  commandments,  for  this  is  the 
whole  duty  of  man." 

From  the  story  of  Solomon,  the  wise,  the  great, 
the  rich,  let  us  turn  for  awhile  to  Saul  of  Tarsus,  the 
young  man  who  held  the  clothing  of  those  who  stoned 
Stephen,  but  who  was  so  miraculously  converted 
while  going  to  Damascus  to  persecute  the  Christians. 
When  the  voice  from  heaven  said :  "  I  am  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  whom  thou  persecutest,"  Saul  surrendered 
and  cried  out  in  reply,  "Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have 
me  to  do?"  And  when  that  voice  said,  "  I  have 
chosen  thee  to  be  a  teacher,  an  apostle  to  the  Gen- 
tiles " — to  leave  home,  and  kindred,  and  old  associa- 
tions, and  go  out  into  the  world  and  lead  men  to 
higher  and  better  lives,  bearing  the  reproaches  of 
the  gospel,  and,  if  need  be,  suffering,  and  even  dying 


The  Great  Business  of  Life.  221 


in  defence  of  that  kingdom  which  Christ  came  to 
establish — he  "  was  not  disobedient "  to  the  voice  of 
God,  but  entered  at  once,  and  for  life,  upon  his  great 
work. 

Saul  had  his  prejudices  like  other  men,  but  they 
vanished,  never  to  be  thought  of  again,  when,  from 
the  lips  of  the  Son  of  God,  he  received  his  great  com- 
mission. He  had  relatives  and  friends  in  Silicia  and 
in  Jerusalem  who  hated  Jesus  and  His  disciples,  and 
who  would  hate  him,  also,  when  it  became  known 
that  he  had  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Nazarene;  but 
he  did  not  hesitate.  He  decided  at  once  and  forever 
to  cast  his  lot  with  Christ,  let  the  consequences  be 
what  they  might.  And  so  when  that  heavenly  voice 
said,  "Arise,  and  go  into  the  city,  and  it  shall  be  told 
thee  what  thou  must  do,"  he  started ;  and,  although 
blind,  and  for  three  days  and  nights  without  meat 
or  drink  or  sleep,  he  did  not  falter,  much  less  despair. 
And  when,  at  last,  Ananias  laid  his  hand  upon  his 
shoulder,  saying,  "Brother  Saul,  receive  thy  sight," 
he  received  that  anointing  that  separated  him  for- 
ever from  the  past  and  made  him  the  apostle  to  the 
Gentile  world. 

He  may  have  had  other  ambitions,  but  a  new  one 
took  possession  of  him  when  the  scales  fell  from  his 
eyes,  and  he  more  fully  comprehended  the  meaning 
of  Calvary  and  the  cross.  It  was  to  do  the  will  of 
God — preach  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles — and  he 
entered  at  once  upon  that  great  work.  Writing  to 
the  Galatians  concerning  his  conversion  and  call  to 
the  ministry,  he  says:  "But  when  it  pleased  God, 


222  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


who  separated  nie  from  my  mother's  womb,  and 
called  me  by  his  grace,  to  reveal  his  Son  in  me  that 
I  might  preach  him  among  the  heathen ;  immedi- 
ately I  conferred  not  with  flesh  and  blood ;  Neither 
went  I  up  to  Jerusalem  to  them  which  were  apostles 
before  me;  but  I  went  into  Arabia,  and  returned 
again  unto  Damascus."  And  he  says  that  it  was 
three  years  before  he  finally  returned  to  Jerusalem, 
and  then  it  was  on  business  pertaining  to  his  work, 
remaining  there  only  a  few  days.  What  his  feelings 
were  when  entering  that  city,  after  an  absence  of 
three  years,  and  the  scenes  through  which  he  had 
passed,  no  one  can  ever  know ;  but  we  may  suppose 
that  many  conflicting  recollections  pressed  them- 
selves upon  his  mind.  But  none  of  them  moved 
him  from  the  line  of  duty.  He  might  have  seen  old 
associates,  the  friends  of  his  youth,  who  were  very 
dear  to  him  when  he  and  they  alike  sat  at  the  feet 
of  Gamaliel,  and  together  studied  the  law  of  Moses, 
and  alike  imbibed  a  hatred  for  the  lowly  and  despised 
Nazarene  whom  he  now  so  dearly  loved;  but  they 
hated  him  now  even  more  than  the  Nazarene.  But 
Saul  had  the  blessed  consciousness  of  knowing  that 
he  was  right,  and  he  could  pray  for  them  and  love 
them,  even  though  they  hated  him.  He  doubtless 
thought  then,  as  he  afterwards  said  on  two  different 
occasions,  "  None  of  these  things  move  me."  *  * 
"  I  count  not  myself  to  have  apprehended,  but  this 
one  thing  I  do;  forgetting  the  things  which  are 
behind  and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things  which 


The  Great  Business  of  Life.  223 


are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of 
the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus." 

From  the  day  of  his  miraculous  conversion  until 
his  death  his  life  history  was  a  succession  of  cross- 
bearings,  sufferings,  self-denials  and  duties  well  per- 
formed. He  had  no  will  of  his  own.  Putting  him- 
self entirely  into  the  hands  of  God,  he  was  willing 
to  be  abased  or  to  abound,  to  live  or  die,  as  it  pleased 
Him.  "  For  me  to  live  is  Christ,  but  to  die  is  gain," 
as  he  said  in  substance  on  more  than  one  occasion. 
It  showed  how  unconcerned  he  was  as  to  this  life. 
And  when,  at  last,  the  end  came,  he  as  calmly  wrote 
to  his  beloved  Timothy,  as  if  announcing  a  visit  to 
a  friend,  "I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered;  and  the 
time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a 
good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept 
the  faith ;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown 
of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge 
shall  give  me  at  that  day." 

Solomon  had  his  pleasure  and  his  crown  in  this 
world.  Paul  chose  the  light  affliction,  which  is  but 
for  a  moment,  "  that  worketh  for  us  a  far  more  ex- 
ceeding and  eternal  weight  of  glory,  and  a  crown  of 
righteousness  at  the  hands  of  the  Lord,  the  righteous 
Judge,  at  that  day." 

Solomon  looked  at  the  things  that  are  seen.  Paul 
looked  at  the  things  that  are  unseen.  Solomon  lost 
all,  for  which  he  had  labored,  in  death.  Paul  gained 
all,  for  which  he  had  labored,  when  his  head  was 
severed  from  his  body  and  the  chariot  of  heaven 
bore  his  immortal  spirit  "to  that  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens." 


224 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


Solomon's  life  was  a  failure ;  Paul's  was  a  most 
glorious  success. 

Whatever  else  it  may  accomplish,  life  is  a  failure, 
indeed,  to  that  being  who  fails  to  realize  the  truth  of 
the  hymn — 

"A  charge  to  keep  I  have, 
A  God  to  glorify  ; 
A  never  dying  soul  to  save 
And  fit  it  for  the  sky." 

How  few  of  us  remember,  as  we  should,  the  sacred 
trust  which  God  has  committed  to  us!  And  if  we 
sometimes  awake  to  a  realization  of  the  great  duty 
of  life,  how  few  of  us  pray  as  fervently  as  we  should 
the  prayer  of  the  poet — 

"Arm  me  with  jealous  care 
As  in  thy  sight  to  live, 
And  oh,  thy  servant,  Lord  prepare 
A  strict  account  to  give." 

The  world  calls  that  man  a  hero  who,  in  life, 
makes  men  and  nations  fear  and  tremble  before  him  ; 
but  the  world's  estimate  of  heroism  is  incorrect.  He 
only  is  great  who  subdues  self  and  subordinates  his 
will  and  his  life  to  the  will  of  God. 

The  world  is  prone  to  pay  homage  to  those  who 
distinguished  themselves  in  war,  statesmanship, 
learning,  or  by  the  accumulation  of  riches.  But  the 
world's  homage  is  of  no  value  to  an  immortal  soul 
that  is  unfit,  when  leaving  its  tenement  of  clay,  to 
meet  its  God. 


The  Great  Business  of  Life.  225 


There  had  been  great  men  before  the  days  of 
Christ — conquerors,  like  Alexander  the  Great; 
philosophers,  such  as  Plato,  Aristotle  and  Socrates; 
rich  men  like  Croesus  and  others ;  yet  it  is  a  re- 
markable fact  that,  in  all  his  discourses,  He  never 
alluded  to  any  of  them  in  terms  of  praise.  But  He 
did  commend  the  widow  who  cast  her  mite  into  the 
treasury  and  the  woman  who  anointed  Him  for  His 
burial,  saying:  "Wherever  this  gospel  shall  be 
preached  in  the  whole  world,  there  shall  also  this 
that  this  woman  hath  done  be  told  for  a  memorial 
of  her." 

In  what  respect  is  the  world  better  to-day  because 
rich  men  like  Croesus,  or  conquerors  like  Alexander 
the  Great  lived  in  it?  What  really  valuable  thing 
should  we  lose  were  their  lives  history  blotted  out? 
Not  all  the  conquerors,  statesmen,  philosophers  and 
poets  of  the  ages  past  left  such  a  legacy  of  good  to 
the  world  as  John  Bunyan,  the  illiterate  dreamer  of 
Bedford  Street  Jail,  who  feared  God  and  kept  His 
commandments. 

To  be  truly  great  is  to  be  truly  good.  And  to  be 
truly  good  is  to  conform  to  the  requirements  of 
heaven. 

The  Greeks  had  a  fable  of  the  Sirens,  whose  sweet 
music  enchanted  the  seamen  who  sailed  past  the 
island  on  which  they  dwelt,  and  when  allured  to 
land  they  were  slain.  When  Ulysses  went  by  he 
filled  the  ears  of  his  sailors  with  wax  and  lashed 
himself  to  the  mast.  He  heard  the  music  and 
wished  to  land,  but  could  not  because  he  was  bound. 
15 


226  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


The  sailors  heard  it  not  because  their  ears  were  filled 
with  wax — so  they  all  passed  safely  by. 

But  when  Orpheus  went  by,  the  music  of  whose 
lyre  enchanted  not  only  all  on  board,  but  beasts, 
rocks  and  trees  as  well,  he  produced  so  much  better 
music  than  the  Sirens  could  make  that  no  one 
wished  to  land. 

Ulysses,  lashed  to  his  mast,  may  fitly  represent 
the  moralist.  He  hears  the  music  of  worldly  temp- 
tation and  wants  to  yield  to  its  seductiveness,  but 
resolution  holds  him,  and  self-interest — his  own 
safety — is  the  thong  that  binds  him.  Orpheus  is 
the  Christian  with  better  music  in  his  soul.  "  The 
love  of  Christ  constraineth  him."  May  it  be  the 
blessed  privilege  of  us  all  to  have  our  hearts  so  filled 
with  Christ  that  neither  the  allurements  of  the  world, 
the  weakness  of  the  flesh,  nor  the  wiles  of  the  devil 
shall  prevent  us  from  giving  heed  to  the  text — "  Fear 
God  and  keep  His  commandments." 


UNITY  IN  DIVERSITY. 

By  Rev.  W.  P.  Williams, 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Local  Ministers'  Conference. 

"  For  the  body  is  not  one  member,  but  many."— 1  Corinthians,  xii :  14. 

Eighteen  hundred  and  forty -six  years  ago  St.  Paul 
punctured  with  his  sharp  satire  the  ecclesiastical 
self-conceit  which  proposes  one  church  as  a  model 
for  all  the  rest,  and  measures  every  other  by  its  con- 
formity to  that  model.    Hear  him :  "  The  body  is 


Unity  in  Diversity. 


227 


not  one  member,  but  many.  If  the  foot  shall  say, 
Because  I  am  not  the  hand,  I  am  not  of  the  body ; 
is  it  therefore  not  of  the  body?  And  if  the  ear 
shall  say,  Because  I  am  not  the  eye,  I  am  not  of  the 
body ;  is  it  not  therefore  of  the  body  ?  If  the  whole 
body  were  an  eye,  where  were  the  hearing  ?  If  the 
whole  were  hearing,  where  the  smelling?  But  now 
hath  God  set  the  members  every  one  of  them  in  the 
body,  as  it  hath  pleased  Him.  And  if  they  were  all 
one  member,  where  were  the  body?  But  now  are 
they  many  members,  yet  one  body":  i.  e.,  now  are 
they  many  denominations,  yet  but  one  church,  Christ, 
the  head,  His  church,  the  "  body ; "  and  all  the  differ- 
ent denominations  members  of  that "  body."  Hence, 
the  Presbyterian  cannot  say  to  the  Methodist,  "  We 
have  no  need  of  thee;"  nor  the  Methodist  to  the 
Baptist,  "  We  have  no  need  of  you,"  etc.  Nay,  much 
more  those  churches  which  seem  to  be  "  more 
feeble  "  are  necessary  for  the  conversion  of  the  world. 

Until  comparatively  recently  many  Protestant 
churches,  while  they  indignantly  disclaimed  the 
infallibility  of  the  Pope,  vehemently  asserted  their 
own,  and  proposed  to  cut  off  from  the  "  body,"  or  to 
declare  as  quite  imperfect  members  of  it,  all  those 
churches  which  did  not  perform  the  same  functions 
in  the  same  way  with  themselves. 

In  nothing  is  the  power  and  progress  of  Christi- 
anity more  evidenced  than  in  the  rapidity  with 
which  this  anti-Christian  spirit  of  pride  is  disappear- 
ing from  the  Christian  church. 


228 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


The  first  era  of  the  church  was  one  of  uniformity. 
The  priesthood  did  the  thinking  for  the  people ;  the 
bishops  did  the  thinking  for  the  priesthood,  and  the 
Pope  did  the  thinking  for  the  bishops;  and  it  follows 
that  when  one  man  does  all  the  thinking  for  all  men, 
all  men  will  think  as  one  man. 

The  second  era  was  one  of  qualified  liberty.  Each 
one  claimed  the  right  to  think  for  himself,  but 
denied .  that  right  to  his  neighbor.  Each  new  body 
claimed  the  right,  not  only  to  determine  the  creed 
and  method  of  worship  for  itself,  but  also  for  all  its 
neighbors. 

But  we  have  passed  that  era  and  are  coming  into 
a  third,  in  which  we  begin  to  recognize  the  idea  of 
the  apostle  in  the  text,  viz.:  That  the  church  of 
Christ  is  many  members — branches — but  "one  body," 
in  which  we  no  longer  wish  to  conform  all  churches 
to  one  model ;  in  which  we  begin  to  perceive  that 
there  are  different  functions  for  the  different  denom- 
inations; and  that  for  the  highest  Christian  usefulness, 
a  division  into  different  church  orders,  is,  or  may  be, 
as  advantageous  as  a  division  of  society  into  differ- 
ent classes  of  industries.  It  is  only  in  the  lowest 
phase  of  church  life  that  one  church  attempts  to 
meet  all  the  wants,  supply  all  the  needs,  and  fulfill 
all  demands  of  church  organization. 

The  Episcopalians  have  furnished  an  aesthetic 
element ;  they  have  prevented  worship  from  becom- 
ing bold  in  its  simplicity,  and  have  held  up  the 
church  to  the  idea  of  public  worship  from  which, 
but  for  them,  we  might  perhaps  have  turned  away 


Unity  in  Diversity. 


229 


to  a  mere  service  of  instruction.  The  Presbyterians, 
Baptists  and  Lutherans  have  been  united  in  their 
respective  bodies  by  their  creeds,  and  have  held  the 
rest  of  the  world  to  them.  Like  a  light-ship  at 
anchor,  the  former  has  swung  to  and  fro  with  incom- 
ing and  out-going  tides,  but  they  have  served  to 
mark  the  anchorage;  and  it  is  by  their  steadiness  of 
doctrine  that  those  in  the  freer  churches,  who 
wished  to  hold  to  the  old  landmark,  have  been  aided 
in  resisting  the  restless  spirit  of  innovators.  The 
Methodists,  by  the  warmth  of  their  sometimes  vocif- 
erous zeal,  have  compelled  attention  from  thousands 
whom  quieter  methods  have  failed  to  attract.  Their 
hunting — like  that  of  the  Bushmen  of  Africa — has 
been  at  times,  it  is  true,  pretty  noisy,  but  they  have 
bagged  game  which  all  other  methods  have  missed. 
Even  the  heretics  have  contributed  something  to 
the  great  fabric  of  truth  which  God  is  uprearing. 
The  Unitarians  by  their  protests  against  the  too  rigidly 
mathematical  statements  of  the  past  have  led  the 
evangelical  churches  to  put  more  reliance  in  spir- 
itual life  than  ever  before,  and  have  indirectly,  by 
the  controversies  they  have  awakened,  both  clarified 
and  strengthened  the  faith  of  the  church  in  a  Divine 
Redeemer. 

When  King  Solomon  built  the  Temple  various 
were  the- kinds  of  handicraft  that  combined  in  the 
structure.  Some  quarried  the  stones,  some  cut  and 
squared  them.  Some  felled  the  cedars  in  the 
forest  of  Lebanon,  some  hewed  and  mortised  them. 
Some  laid  foundations,  some  built  up  the  massive 


230  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


walls.  Some  "  worked  cunningly  in  ornamenta- 
tion," and  some  wove  the  tapestries  that  were  to 
adorn  it.  The  Temple  was  one,  the  workmen  were 
many.  So  are  we  all  working  together  on  the  same 
church.  Methodists  pioneering  after  virgin  timber. 
Presbyterians  laying  broad  and  deep  foundations  in 
doctrine.  Episcopalians  weaving  with  much  exquisite 
taste  the  ornamental  portions  of  the  Great  House  of 
God.  Congregationalists  building  the  doors  and 
swinging  them  open  wide,  that  whosoever  loves 
mercy,  does  justly,  and  walks  humbly  before  God 
may  enter  in  thereat.  The  Baptists  are  fighting,  both 
by  land  and  water ;  and  are  marching  grandly  on 
toward  the  final  conquest  of  the  world.  And  so  on, 
with  other  denominations  too  numerous  to  mention 
in  a  short  sermon. 

Thus  there  are  many  churches,  and  yet  but  one 
church  And  thus,  with  all  our  various  forms  of 
creed  and  worship,  we  are  one  chu'ch. 

"  One  family,  we  dwell  in  Him; 
One  church — above,  beneath." 

And  the  Universalists  have  certainly  changed  the 
method  of  presenting  the  doctrines  of  Divine  pun- 
ishment, while  they  never  have,  nor  never  can,  elimi- 
nate the  warning  of  it  from  God's  Word,  nor  the  just 
fear  of  it  from  the  human  heart!  It  is  constantly 
claimed  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  that  it  is 
one,  and  that  Protestantism  leads  to  division,  separa- 
tion and  schism  !  And  this  claim  is  asserted  with  so 
much  energy  that  there  are  thousands  of  Protestants 
who  really  believe  it.    But  it  is  not  true.  Liberty 


Unity  in  Diversity. 


231 


has  produced  greater  unity  than  despotism.  The 
Romish  Church  is  a  unit  only  in  name ;  the  Protest- 
ant churches  are  a  unit  in  everything  else.  There 
is  more  unity  in  doctrine,  more  unity  in  spirit,  more 
unity  in  religious  life  in  the  Protestant  evangelical 
churches  than  in  the  churches  of  the  Papist.  Of 
denominational  controversy  there  is  no  such  illus- 
trious example  as  that  afforded  by  the  bitter  strifes 
between  the  Jansenist  and  the  Jesuit. 

The  so-called  "Ecumenical  Council  of  the  Vati- 
can "  was  put  in  bonds  at  its  first  session.  Its  offi- 
cers were  appointed  for  it;  its  business  was  prepared 
for  it ;  its  speakers  were  allotted  to  it.  Everything 
that  transpired  was  arranged  by  the  "  infallible  "  (?) 
Pope  and  his  advisers.  And  yet,  despite  it  all,  the 
dome  of  St.  Peter's  re-echoed  again  and  again  with 
controversies  the  most  bitter,  with  denunciations  the 
most  fierce — yea,  with  tumults  that  would  have  dis- 
graced an  American  political  convention.  While 
the  Protestant  Evangelical  Alliance  that  met  in 
Philadelphia  soon  after,  which  was  trammeled  by  no 
"  rules "  save  those  of  its  own  making,  was  not 
marred  by  a  single  dispute. 

And  while  the  Ecumenical  Conference  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  was  somewhat  diversified,  yet  there 
was  Unity  in  Diversity. 

For  ourselves,  we  have  no  faith  in  the  present  suc- 
cess of  any  movement  towards  an  organic  union  of 
all  the  branches  of  the  Methodist  Church,  much  less 
of  all  the  Protestant  churches.  We  doubt  whether  it 
is  desirable.    We  are  certain  it  is  not  practicable.  It 


232  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


is  not  by  all  becoming  Presbyterians  or  Baptists, 
Lutherans  or  Methodists  that  the  unity  of  the  church 
is  to  be  attained. 

The  "  body  "  cannot  all  become  head,  foot,  eye,  or 
ear.  The  endeavor  to  convert  each  other  to  one  way 
of  thinking  has  been  fully  tried,  and  it  has  failed — 
utterly  failed.  We  are  to  seek  for  unity,  not  by  be- 
coming the  same  in  creed,  church  government,  etc., 
but  by  recognizing  each  other's  usefulness ;  and  by 
perceiving  that  God  in  His  providence  has  for  each 
one  of  us  a  work  which  no  other  denomination  can  so 
successfully  accomplish.  Then  let  us  be  "  kindly 
affectioned  one  toward  another,  with  brotherly  love." 

"0,  may  the  saints  of  every  name 
Unite  to  praise  the  bleeding  Lamb! 
May  jars  and  discords  cease  to  flame, 
And  all  the  Saviour's  love  proclaim, 
And  give  to  Jesus  glory." 


THE  TRANSCENDENT  VALUE  OF  A  GOOD 
NAME. 
By  Rev.  W.  H.  Moore, 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  M.  E.  0.,  S. 

"  A  good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches,  and  loving 
favour  rather  than  silver  and  gold."— Prov.  xxii :  1. 

Every  man,  if  he  has  not  lost  his  self-respect,  de- 
sires to  be  thought  well  of  by  his  associates.  When 
a  man  has  reached  the  point  where  he  "  does  not  care 
what  people  think  of  him,"  there  is  but  little,  if  any- 


Value  of  a  Good  Name. 


233 


thing,  in  him  to  commend  him  to  the  good  opinion 
of  others.  There  may  come  times  in  a  man's  life 
when  he  must  put  himself  in  antagonism  with  the 
majority  of  his  associates ;  but  a  man  who  has  no 
regard  for  a  righteous  public  sentiment  is  lost  to  every 
sense  of  honor,  and  has  already  trod  all  the  inter- 
mediate rounds  in  the  ladder  going  down  into  the 
pit  of  degradation.    He  has  reached  the  bottom. 

Riches  are  not  to  be  despised.  Among  the  gifts 
of  God,  when  properly  used,  they  become  a  great 
blessing  to  him  who  possesses  them.  It  is  not,  there- 
fore, because  of  their  little,  but  great  value,  that  Sol- 
omon puts  them  in  comparison  with  a  good  name,  to 
make  the  value  of  the  latter  all  the  more  conspicu- 
ous. The  wise  man  declares,  by  the  inspiration  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  that  "a  good  name  is  rather  to  be 
chosen  than  great  riches,"  because  it  is  of  more  value, 
and  "loving  favour"  to  be  chosen  "rather  than  silver 
and  gold." 

The  theme  furnished  us  by  the  text  is:  The  trans- 
cendent value  of  a  good  name. 

A  good  name,  as  used  in  the  text,  is  not  a  name 
which  has  been  popularized  by  some  good  and  great 
man  who  has  borne  it,  but  stands  for  a  good  charac- 
ter, which  draws  to  it  the  loving  favor  of  those  who 
are  associated  with  him  who  bears  the  name.  "  A 
rose  by  any  other  name  would  smell  as  sweet."  There 
is  nothing  in  a  name  apart  from  the  individual  char- 
acter of  him  who  bears  it,  and  of  which  it  stands  as 
the  representative.  George  Washington,  John  Wes- 
ley, John  Calvin  are  names  repected  and  admired 


234 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


the  world  over;  but  many  a  graceless  wretch  to 
whom  patriotic  or  pious  parents  gave  these  names 
has  died  in  prison,  or  swung  from  a  scaffold,  for  in- 
famous crimes  they  had  committed.  They  bore  hon- 
ored names  but  disgraced  them,  and,  unlike  the 
great  and  good  men  for  whom  they  were  named,  they 
have  gone  down  to  their  graves  u  unwept,  unhonored, 
and  unsung  " 

A  good  name,  as  used  in  the  text,  does  not  mean, 
I  repeat,  a  name  only.  It  stands  as  the  symbol  of  a 
good  character,  or  a  good  reputation  growing  out  of 
a  good  character.  To  have  a  good  name  among  men 
when  we  deserve  only  their  reprobation,  simply  argues 
that  we  have  been  skilful  hypocrites,  successfully 
hiding  our  real  self  behind  a  semblance  of  virtuous 
life;  or  that  those  associated  with  us  have  been  too 
obtuse  to  see  our  real  character  wheu  it  has  been 
exposed.  A  hypocrite  is  essentially  a  man  who  has 
built  up  a  good  reputation  on  the  semblance  of  a  good 
character,  for  he  is  one  who  imitates  another. 

A  good  reputation  is  not  to  be  despised  by  any 
man ;  but  we  must  never  forget  that  character  is 
everything.  Shakespeare  has  written  many  good 
things,  but  nothing  that  breathes  a  worthier  senti- 
ment than  that  in  the  following  lines: 

"  Good  name  in  man  and  woman,  *  *  * 

Is  the  immediate  jewel  of  their  souls;  [ing: 
Who  steals  my  purse  steals  trash;  'tis  something — noth- 
'Twas  mine,  'tis  his,  and  has  been  slave  to  thousands; 
But  he  that  filches  from  me  my  good  name 
Robs  me  of  that  which  not  enriches  him, 
And  makes  me  poor  indeed." 


Value  of  a  Good  Name. 


235 


There  is  a  wealth  of  wisdom  in  this  saying  of  a 
quaint  old  writer:  "  Be  wondrous  wary  of  your  first 
comportment.  Get  a  good  name,  and  be  very  tender 
of  it  afterwards,  for  it  is  like  the  Venice  glass,  quickly 
cracked,  never  to  be  mended,  though  patched  it  may 
be."  And  take  along  with  you  this  fable:  "  Fire, 
Water,  and  Fame  went  to  travel  together.  They 
consulted  that  if  they  lost  one  another  how  they 
might  meet  again.  Fire  said,  '  Where  you  see  smoke, 
there  you  will  find  me.'  Water  said, '  Where  you 
see  marsh  and  low  grounds,  there  you  shall  find  me/ 
Fame  said,  '  Take  heed  how  you  lose  me ;  for,  if 
you  do,  you  will  run  a  great  risk  never  to  meet  me 
again — there  is  no  retrieving  of  me.' "  A  single  mean 
act  may  destroy  a  good  name  which  it  has  taken  a 
lifetime  to  establish,  and  when  once  lost  it  may 
never  be  regained. 

The  good  name  which  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than 
great  riches  is  a  good  name  resulting  from  a  good 
or  a  religious  character.  Few  will  deny  the  truth 
taught  us  in  the  text,  and  yet  many  are  running 
counter  to  it  in  the  every-day  affairs  of  life.  Ours 
is  a  material  age.  We  hear  men  talking  of  "  devel- 
opment," but  it  is  all  of  a  material  kind — mines,  in- 
crease of  crops,  fine  colts,  and  large  hogs.  "  Trusts," 
"  combines  "  and  "  syndicates  "  are  words  that  have 
become  as  familiar  to  us  as  our  a  b  c's.  We  are 
losing  sight  of  the  greater  good  in  a  wild  race  after 
the  lesser  one.  Great  riches  in  silver  and  gold, 
houses  and  lands,  are  swallowing  up  and  blinding  us 
to  the  greater  good — a  good  character.    I  may  not 


236  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


hope  to  effectual^  dam  this  stream  which  runs  with 
the  force  of  a  torrent,  but  I  would,  with  God's  help, 
cast  a  pebble  that  may  impede  if  it  cannot  arrest  its 
flow.    To  do  this — 

1.  Let  us  compare  the  relative  worth  of  a  good  name 
and  great  riches  as  commercial  values.  A  dollar  has  a 
specific  value.  It  will  purchase  so  much,  and  no 
more.  Bat  "great  riches"  put  one  in  possession  of 
all  the  purchasable  good  the  world  has  to  give  and 
which  we  have  the  capacity  to  enjoy.  With  "great 
riches"  a  man  may  load  his  table  with  the  choicest 
food  gathered  from  every  quarter  of  the  earth  and 
"  fare  sumptuously  every  day."  He  may  clothe  him- 
self in  the  very  best  apparel  that  man's  skill  can 
make— "in  purple  and  fine  linen."  He  may  build 
him  a  palace  for  a  home,  and  furnish  it  with  the 
luxurious  appointments  of  a  king.  With  "  great 
riches  "  he  may  buy  the  beauty  of  womanhood  to 
superintend  his  household  affairs  and  fill  the  posi- 
tion of  a  wife.  With  "great  riches"  he  may  buy  all 
that  will  gratify  "the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  and  the 
desire  of  the  eye  and  the  pride  of  life."  And  here 
he  must  stop.  Riches  have  only  a  marketable  value, 
and  when  they  have  purchased  what  is  in  the  market, 
then  they  have  reached  their  limit. 

But  "a  good  name"  is  better  capital  than  money, 
and  in  the  marts  of  trade  "loving  favor  is  better 
than  silver  and  gold." 

One  of  the  axioms  of  the  world  of  trade  is  that  "  it 
takes  money  to  make  money."  This  is  true  in  part, 
but  only  in  part.    It  is  one  of  those  deceptive  half- 


Value  of  a  Good  Name.  237 


truths  that  seem  to  be  whole  truths,  and  all  the  worse 
for  that  fact.  It  is  true  that  a  man  must  have  capital 
on  which  to  trade  if  he  would  accumulate;  but  it  is 
not  true  that  money  is  the  only  capital  on  which  a 
successful  business  may  be  done. 

Some  men  have  amassed  fortunes  by  grinding  the 
faces  of  the  poor,  and  in  other  ways  have  grown  rich 
by  combining  their  capital  against  the  less  fortunate; 
but  all  their  wealth  has  not  been  able  to  purchase 
for  them  the  esteem  and  good-will  of  their  fellow- 
men.  Honorable  men  reprobate  their  conduct,  and 
think  no  more  of  them  because  they  are  rich.  We 
call  such  men  hogs,  to  express  our  contempt  for  them 
and  the  methods  by  which  they  have  grown  rich. 

Stewart,  "the  merchant  prince,"  who  crushed  with- 
out conscience,  and  with  an  iron  hand,  all  who 
rivaled  him  in  business,  died  without  a  tear  to  mois- 
ten the  sod  above  him,  and  the  world  has  no  con- 
cern whether  his  bones  now  rest  in  the  vault  made 
for  their  reception,  or  are  bleaching  in  the  fathom- 
less caves  of  the  ocean.  Hutchinson  "cornered"  the 
market,  and  by  the  rise  in  breadstuffs  made  a  mil- 
lion; but  his  victims,  out  of  whose  mouths  the  bread 
was  taken,  hold  and  will  forever  hold  him  in  detes- 
tation. 

Love  gets  everything.  Character  is  made,  not 
bought.  It  is  the  product  of  the  sweat  we  have 
dropped  on  the  world's  hard  anvil  while  forging  out 
the  lives  we  have  lived,  and  is  valuable  in  propor- 
tion to  the  goodness  we  have  put  into  it.  A  good 
name  brings  to  us  loving  favor  from  the  world,  and 


238  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


the  just  esteem  of  men  is  worth  more  than  great 
riches  in  silver  and  gold. 

A  young  man  with  a  widowed  mother  to  care  for 
was  engaged  to  run  the  elevator  in  a  city  hotel.  He 
did  his  work  well  and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  his 
employer.  Saturday  night  came,  and  with  it  the 
pay  for  his  week's  work  and  an  order  to  attend  on 
Sunday  to  do  his  usual  work.  He  looked  at  the 
money  which  had  been  paid  him  and  thought  how 
much  it  would  help  his  mother,  then  thought  of  the 
violation  of  the  holy  Sabbath  and  the  displeasure  of 
Him  he  had  been  taught  to  honor  His  eyes  filled 
with  tears  as  he  said  to  his  employer,  "  My  mother 
needs  the  money,  but  I  cannot  work  on  Sundays." 
"Then  I  will  get  some  one  else  to  do  it.  If  you  are 
not  here  in  the  morning,  you  need  not  come  any 
more,"  was  the  answer  he  received.  The  youth 
dashed  the  tears  from  his  eyes  and  passed  out  at  the 
door  carefully  watched  by  a  stranger,  who,  standing 
by,  had  heard  and  seen  all  that  had  transpired.  It  was 
sad  for  the  son  as  he  laid  his  week's  wages  in  the  lap  of 
his  mother  and  told  her  he  was  to  lose  his  place.  He 
lost  it,  for,  instead  of  returning  to  work,  the  next 
morning  he  went  to  the  Sabbath-school.  Early  Mon- 
day morning  the  stranger  who  had  seen  him  leave 
the  hotel  Saturday  night  called  at  the  place  and  got 
his  address.  He  wanted  a  boy,  a  boy  with  "  a  good 
name,"  and  he  secured  this  one  at  better  wages  than 
he  received  at  the  hotel;  and  now  he  is  a  member  of 
the  firm,  rich  in  worldly  goods,  and  held  in  loving 
favor  by  all  who  know  him. 


Value  of  a  Good  Name.  239 


Believe  me  when  I  tell  you,  after  wide  observation, 
that  in  market  value  to  a  business  man  a  good 
name  is  the  better  part  of  his  capital.  I  had  rather 
begin  life  on  a  back  street  with  five  hundred  dollars 
and  a  good  name  as  capital,  than  to  have  an  eligible 
site  with  five  thousand  dollars  and  a  bad  reputation 
to  start  with. 

2.  Let  us  try  their  comparative  value  in  social  life.  It 
is  lamentably  true  that  some  men  and  some  women 
are  willing  to  sell  themselves,  body  and  soul,  for 
money  ;  but  what  man  whose  society  is  worth  count- 
ing, or  whose  society  is  worth  keeping,  desires,  or 
values,  the  interchange  of  social  courtesies,  much 
more  the  intimate  companionship,  of  such  people? 

A  true  man  does  not  disesteem  another  because 
he  is  poor,  nor  does  he  hold  him  in  regard  simply 
because  he  is  rich ;  he  does  not  honor  the  person  of 
the  mighty,  or  disparage  that  of  the  lowly.    To  him: 

"  Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise." 

A  man  may  have  "  great  riches  "  and  be  bankrupt 
in  character;  but  such  a  man  is  too  sordid  in  his  life 
to  be  held  in  esteem  by  noble-minded  and  virtuous 
people.  I  know  it  is  often  thought,  and  it  is  some- 
times said,  "  A  man  can  do  anything  with  money," 
and  that  "  he  can  associate  with  whom  he  pleases,  if 
he  be  rich."  But  is  that  true?  Are  riches  alone  a 
passport  to  the  best  social  circles  of  the  world  ?  Let 
the  man  who  has  tried  it  and  been  successful  (if 
there  be  one)  rise  and  testify. 


240  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


It  is  not  denied  that  gold  may  buy  a  man  place 
•and  prominence  among  some  people  But  what 
kind  of  people  are  they?  It  only  procures  admis- 
sion to  that  part  of  society  whose  circle  is  composed 
of  people  as  sordid  as  himself,  and  who  are  regarded 
by  the  thinking,  and  the  good,  as  being  altogether 
unworthy  the  esteem  of  virtuous  men.  We  call  such 
people  hogs  in  common  speech,  and  would  find  as 
much  of  pleasure  in  the  associations  of  a  pig-stye  as 
in  the  homes  and  society  of  men  who  measure  others 
by  the  size  of  their  bank  accounts  or  the  fullness  of 
their  pocket-books. 

A  good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great 
riches  as  a  passport  to  the  best  social  circles.  There 
is  but  one  aristocracy  in  the  world  that  is  worth 
anything,  and  that  is  not  of  blood,  or  money,  but  of 
virtue.  This  brings  together  all  the  good  elements 
of  the  world,  and  binds  them  together  in  bonds  of 
purity,  as.  the  one  essential  thing  to  membership  in 
its  ennobling  circle ;  and  any  other  is  not  worthy  to  be 
woven  into  a  door-mat  on  which  for  these  to  wipe 
their  feet. 

3.  Try  it  in  the  sphere  of  the  affections.  Love  is  the 
noblest  of  all  the  affections  of  the  soul,  if  it  find 
pleasure  and  satisfaction  in  that  which  is  noble.  It 
cannot  be  bought ;  its  price  is  above  rubies.  Love 
demands  to  be  paid  in  its  own  coin,  and  it  will  take 
no  other. 

A  woman  of  avaricious  spirit  may  by  the  sacred 
rite  of  the  marriage  bond  sell  her  body  to  a  man, 
only  for  the  privilege  of  using  his  money  to  gratify 


Value  of  a  Good  Name.  241 

her  pride ;  but,  in  such  a  case,  the  union  being  a 
mercenary  one,  there  can  be  no  union  of  hearts,  and 
none  of  the  holy  aspirations  that  are  kindled  alone 
by  love.  "  Better  is  a  dinner  of  herbs  where  love  isr 
than  a  stalled  ox  and  hatred  therewith."  Love  gives 
zest  to  the  appetite  and  makes  the  coarser  fare  of  the 
poor  man  sweeter  to  the  taste,  and  more  nourishing 
to  the  body,  when  eaten  in  love,  than  the  dainter 
fare  of  his  rich  neighbor  on  whose  table  the  stalled 
ox  is  placed  and  eaten  in  an  angry  spirit.  The 
truth  is,  there  is  no  enjoyment  in  life  which  love 
does  not  heighten.  It  is  the  best  sauce  for  every  dishr 
a  passport  to  the  best  social  state,  and  enriches  us 
with  that  which  no  amount  of  money  can  procure — 
the  loving  favor  of  those  who  are  worthy  of  our 
esteem. 

I  shall  close  this  sermon  with  the  question  :  Do 
you  accept  as  true  this  statement  of  Holy  Writ  that 
"  a  good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great 
riches and  that  "  loving  favour  is  better  than  silver 
and  gold  ?"  If  so,  then,  a  good  name,  a  righteous 
character,  will  be  the  chief  object  of  your  life.  It  is 
the  pearl  of  great  price  which  a  man  having  found 
is  warranted  in  selling  all  he  has  to  buy  the  field  in 
which  it  is  found.  "  Happy  is  the  man  that  findeth 
wisdom,  and  the  man  that  getteth  understanding: 
for  the  merchandise  of  it  is  better  than  the  merchan- 
dise of  silver,  and  the  gain  thereof  than  fine  gold. 
She  is  more  precious  than  rubies  and  all  the  things 
thou  canst  desire  are  not  to  be  compared  unto  her. 
Length  of  days  is  in  her  right  hand:  and  in  her  left 
16 


242  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


hand  riches  and  honor.  Her  ways  are  ways  of 
pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  peace.  She  is  a 
tree  of  life  to  them  that  lay  hold  upon  her :  and 
happy  is  every  one  that  retaineth  her." 

A  boy  was  apprenticed  to  a  Quaker  to  learn  the 
tanner's  trade.  The  condition  of  service  expressed 
by  the  Quaker  was :  "  Thee  shall  do  as  well  by  me 
as  I  do  by  thee."  The  boy  was  so  faithful  he  won 
his  employer's  confidence.  He  was  honest,  good- 
natured  and  industrious.  Before  the  expiration  of 
his  apprenticeship  the  Quaker  said  to  him  one  day, 
"  Henry,  I  think  of  making  thee  a  present  when  thy 
time  is  out.  I  can  not  tell  thee  what  it  shall  be,  but 
it  shall  be  worth  more  than  a  hundred  pounds." 

Great  expectations  were  kindled  in  the  young 
man's  mind,  and  many  surmises  made  as  to  what 
the  present  would  be.  The  day  the  apprenticeship 
expired  the  Quaker  took  the  young  man  to  his 
father,  and  said,  "  Henry,  I  will  now  give  thee  thy 
present."  Then,  turning  to  Henry's  father,  he  said : 
"  Thy  son  is  the  best  boy  I  ever  had  in  my  employ." 
Glancing  back  at  Henry  he  continued,  "  This  is  thy 
present,  Henry — a  good  name." 

The  golden  dreams  of  Henry  vanished.  He  stood 
silent,  sad,  disappointed.  But  his  father  answered, 
"  I  would  rather  hear  you  say  that  of  my  son  than 
see  you  give  him  all  the  money  you  are  worth,  for  a 
good  name  is  rather  to  be  chosen  than  great  riches." 

May  you  recognize  the  value  of  a  good  name,  and 
seek  it  above  all  worldly  good. 


The  Greatest  Book  in  the  World.  243 


THE  GREATEST  BOOK  IN  THE  WORLD. 
By  Rev.  J.  W.  Carter,  D.  D. 
Of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Raleigh,  N.  C. 

"  The  law  of  thy  mouth  is  better  unto  me  than  thousands  of  gold  and 
silver."— Psalms  cxix  :  72. 

The  Psalms  are  inspired  hymns.  They  were 
written  by  David  and  other  Hebrew  poets  who  were 
guided  in  thought  and  speech  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
They  were  also  set  to  music  and  sung  in  the  worship 
of  ancient  times.  In  some  respects  the  most  striking 
of  all  the  Psalms  is  the  one  hundred  and  nineteenth. 
Not  only  is  it  the  longest  of  them,  but  it  is  peculiar 
in  form  and  construction.  You  notice  that  it  is 
divided  into  twenty-two  sections  of  eight  verses  each. 
At  the  head  of  each  section  you  find  a  strange  word. 
These  twenty-two  words  which  puzzle  so  many 
English  readers  are  the  names  of  the  twenty-two  let- 
ters of  the  Hebrew  alphabet ;  and  in  the  Hebrew 
language  the  eight  verses  of  each  section  begin  with 
the  Hebrew  letter,  the  name  of  which  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  section.  The  eight  verses  of  the  first 
division  all  begin  with  Aleph,  which  is  the  first  letter 
of  the  Hebrew  alphabet;  the  eight  verses  of  the 
second  section  all  begin  with  Beth,  the  second  Hebrew 
letter;  and  this  arrangement  runs  through  the  entire 
Psalm  until  we  come  to  Yan,  which  is  the  last  letter 
of  the  Hebrew  alphabet. 

This  remarkable  Psalm  not  only  gives  us  the 
truth,  but  states  it  in  a  striking,  taking  way.  The 
general  subject  of  the  Psalm  is  the  Word  of  God. 


244 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


How  the  heaven-guided  poet  exalts  the  precious 
Word,  and  exhorts  us  to  love,  seek,  study  and 
practice  it!  Almost  every  verse  of  the  long  Psalm 
is  a  direct  reference  to  God's  Word  under  some 
one  of  the  various  names  by  which  it  is  known. 
How  much  is  said  about  "  the  law,"  "  the  precepts," 
"the  statutes,"  "the  teachings,"  "the  judgments," 
"the  testimonies,"  and  "the  commandments"  of  the 
Lord.  Our  text  declares  the  supreme  value  of  the 
inspired  Word.  "  The  law  of  thy  mouth  is  better 
unto  me  than  thousands  of  gold  and  silver." 

The  writer  of  the  one  hundred  and  nineteenth 
Psalm  never  saw  a  complete  Bible.  Since  he  lived 
much  of  the  Old  Testament  and  all  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament have  been  added.  Since  his  time  the  greatest 
events  of  the  ages  have  occurred.  Faithful  prophets 
have  lived,  and  taught,  and  written,  and  died.  Jesus 
Christ  has  come  into  the  world,  walked  and  talked 
with  men,  preached  his  wonderful  sermons,  taught 
the  way  of  salvation,  died  on  the  Cross  for  our  sins, 
come  forth  from  the  grave  in  triumph,  and  gone  up 
to  the  Father's  right  hand.  The  Apostles  and  other 
inspired  men  have  traveled,  preached  and  suffered. 
In  addition  to  their  other  labors,  they  also  wrote  the 
Gospels  and  Epistles.  Our  Bible  is  not  only  larger 
in  size,  but  it  is  far  broader,  clearer  and  fuller  in  its 
teachings  than  the  Bible  of  the  good  man  who  wrote 
the  one  hundred  and  nineteenth  Psalm.  But  he 
said :  "  The  law  of  thy  mouth  is  better  unto  me  than 
thousands  of  gold  and  silver."  If  his  little  imper- 
fect Bible  was  so  precious  to  him,  surely  our  larger, 
fuller  Bible  ought  to  be  vastly  more  precious  to  us. 


The  Greatest  Book  in  the  World.  245 

The  subject  about  which  I  want  to  talk  to  you  is 
"  The  Greatest  Book  in  the  World."  It  is  not  claimed 
that  the  Bible  is  the  largest  book.  Compared  with 
the  five  thousand  arid  pages  of  Comte's  Philosophy, 
or  with  some  other  books  that  might  be  named,  it  is 
not  a  large  book.  You  can  buy  a  copy  of  it  for 
twenty-five  cents,  carry  it  in  your  vest  pocket  and 
read  it  through  in  a  few  weeks.  But  it  is  the  greatest 
book.  It  is  the  Word  of  God  through  men  to  men. 
It  gives  us  God's  thoughts  in  human  speech.  We 
live  in  a  book-making  age.  More  men  and  women 
write  books  to-day  than  ever  before.  Never  before 
were  books  so  common  and  cheap  as  they  are  now. 
One  of  the  great  facts  of  the  present  time  is  the 
enormous  production  of  books  in  all  civilized  coun- 
tries. Thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  new 
books  are  given  to  the  public  every  year.  School 
books,  books  of  travel,  books  of  fiction,  books  on 
theology,  history  and  philosophy,  books  on  all 
aspects  of  science  and  all  branches  of  industry,  books 
on  all  special  subjects  and  theories,  books  in  prose 
and  poetry,  and  in  all  written  languages,  are  poured 
forth  in  ever-growing  numbers  from  countless 
presses.  Almost  three  thousand  years  ago  the  wise 
man  said  :  "  Of  making  many  books  there  is  no  end." 
(Ecclesiastes  xii :  12.)  What  would  he  say  now? 
What  would  he  think,  if  he  could  come  back  to  this 
world,  visit  the  book-making  centers,  go  through  the 
great  publishing  houses,  compute  the  immense  cap- 
ital they  control,  consider  the  labor  and  machinery 
they   employ  in  the  manufacture  of  books,  and 


246  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


behold  the  vast  masses  of  finished  product?  How- 
he  would  be  startled  !  Surely  he  would  exhaust  the 
strength  of  language  in  vain  efforts  to  express  his 
surprise.  What  becomes  of  all  the  books?  Who 
buys  them  ?  Who  reads  them  ?  What  is  done  with 
them?  But  without  any  unjust  reflection  upon  any 
other  book,  I  insist  that  the  Bible  is  the  greatest  of 
all  books.  It  is  greater  than  all  others  because  it 
teaches  some  vastly  important  truths  which  we  can 
not  get  from  any  other  book.  Without  the  Bible  we 
would  be  ignorant  of  some  of  the  weightiest  and  most 
solemn  facts  which  man  ever  heard  or  God  ever 
taught.    Let  us  see. 

1.  Our  knowledge  of  the  origin  and  of  the  moral  con- 
dition of  man  comes  from  the  Bible.  It  is  the  book  which 
gives  us  the  clearest,  truest  account  of  man's  creation 
and  destiny.  We  find  ourselves  in  this  world.  We 
know  that  we  came  from  somewhere.  Mysteries  press 
upon  us  from  all  around.  But  we  have  capacity  to 
investigate.  We  can  study  the  workings  of  our  own 
minds.  We  can  explore  many  departments  of  Nature. 
We  can  produce  telescopes ;  search  the  heavens,  and 
weigh  and  measure  the  stars.  We  can  make  micro- 
scopes and  examine  the  minute  things  of  earth.  We 
can  read  the  strange  records  which  are  written  upon 
the  rocks,  and  learn  what  they  have  to  say  about  the 
beginnings  of  plant  life  and  animal  life. 

But  all  the  time  some  hard  questions  keep  coming 
up  in  our  minds  and  calling  for  answers.  What  are 
we?  Whence  came  we?  Whither  go  we?  Where 
did  we  come  from?    What  are  we  here  for,  and 


The  Greatest  Book  in  the  World.  247 

where  are  we  going?  When  we  seek  an  answer  to 
these  and  kindred  questions,  where  shall  we  find  it? 
Nature  can  give  no  response.  The  earth  is  dumb. 
The  stars  in  heaven  are  silent.  The  ocean  with  its 
swarming  life  rolls  back  no  reply.  The  grave  is 
voiceless.  But  the  Bible  comes  to  our  relief.  It  tells 
us  that  God  made  man  in  His  own  image,  looked 
upon  him  in  his  early  innocence,  and  saw  that  he 
was  good.  Then  man  was  not  the  product  of  blind 
chance,  or  the  lucky  result  of  unmeaning  accident, 
but  he  was  the  holy  creation  of  the  holy  God.  In 
the  lustrous  beauty  of  stainless  purity  he  walked  the 
sinless  earth.  It  was  his  delight  to  worship  and 
serve  the  Spiritual  and  Eternal  God.  But  a  sad 
change  came.  Man  sinned  and  fell.  When  he  vio- 
lated the  perfect  law,  he  corrupted  his  moral  nature 
and  plunged  into  guilt,  and  now  wherever  we  find 
him,  we  can  see  that  he  is  a  fallen  creature.  He  is 
often  false,  often  dishonest,  often  cruel,  often  a  bloody 
butcher,  often  a  fierce  robber,  often  a  dark-minded 
idolater,  and  always  and  everywhere  selfish  and 
guilty.  The  picture  which  the  great  apostle  gives  in 
Romans  and  Ephesians  of  our  natural  condition  is 
dark  and  repelling.  But  it  is  terribly  true.  No 
thoughtful  student  of  human  nature  can  deny  it. 
The  man  who  says  it  is  a  slander,  is  either  too  ignor- 
ant to  recognize  the  truth  when  he  sees  it,  or  too 
guilty  to  confess  it  when  he  knows  it.  Now  the  Bible 
is  a  specially  useful  and  supremely  necessary  book, 
because  it  is  the  only  book  which  explains  our  origin, 
describes  our  present  moral  condition,  and  teaches 
other  great  practical  facts. 


248  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


2.  It  is  also  the  best  and  fullest  revelation  of  God. 
Nature  suggests  that  there  is  a  God,  and  that  He  is  a 
being  of  infinite  power  and  wisdom.  "The  heavens 
declare  the  glory  of  God :  and  the  firmament  showeth 
his  handiwork.  Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and 
night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge."  (Ps.  xix  :  1,  2.) 
But  we  want  to  know  more  of  God  than  we  can  learn 
from  the  changeable  earth  and  distant  stars.  The 
knowledge  which  we  get  from  Nature  is  good  enough 
as  far  as  it  goes,  but  it  doesn't  go  far  enough.  It  is 
sufficient  to  excite  our  interest,  but  not  sufficient  to 
satisfy  the  deepest  cravings  of  our  souls.  Where  shall 
we  find  more  knowledge?  Here  again  the  Bible 
comes  to  our  relief.  When  we  study  its  pages,  we 
learn  not  only  that  there  is  a  great  and  glorious  God, 
the  Creator  and  Upholder  of  all  things,  the  Almighty 
and  All-wise,  the  Eternal  and  Immutable,  but  we 
also  find  that  "  God  is  love."  What  a  precious  and 
thrilling  fact!  Nature  could  never  teach  it  Some- 
times when  we  possess  good  health,  live  in  comfort, 
look  upon  calm  skies  and  lovely  landscapes,  and 
are  pleased  with  ourselves  and  others,  it  is  easy  to 
believe  that  God  loves  us.  But  the  reverse  is  also 
true.  When  we  are  shattered  by  disease,  when  our 
friends  sicken  and  die,  when  our  hearts  are  stricken 
and  desolate,  when  our  property  is  destroyed,  when 
the  cyclone  sweeps  over  the  land  and  leaves  wreck 
and  death  in  its  track,  or  when  the  earthquake  shakes 
down  cities,  and  we  stand  amid  the  ruins  of  our  loved 
homes,  then  we  doubt  and  question  the  love  of  God, 
and  are  not  satisfied  with  the  testimony  of  Nature. 


The  Greatest  Book  in  the  World.  249 

We  ask,  Does  God  loves  us?  What  are  His  relations 
to  us?  Is  He  pleased  with  the  little  services  that  we 
can  offer?  Will  He  accept  us  in  Christ,  and  finally 
save  us?  When  these  and  other  anxious  questions 
besiege  our  troubled  hearts,  no  reply  comes  from 
earth  or  ocean.  Nature  is  as  silent  as  the  grave.  But 
the  Written  Word  answers  and  tells  us  that  "  God  is 
love."  (1  John  iv :  8.)  He  so  loved  the  world  ;  this 
wicked  and  condemned  world  ;  this  sinning,  sighing, 
suffering  world ;  this  blood-drenched  and  tear-stained 
world ;  this  world  so  full  of  aching  hearts  and  weeping 
eyes — "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."    (John  iii :  16.) 

In  Nature  I  see  the  outer  robe  of  God,  and  I  ad- 
mire its  beauty  and  grandeur.  But  in  the  Bible,  I 
see  "  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ " 
(II  Cor.  iv  :  6).  I  also  hear  Him  speaking  to  me ; 
sometimes,  it  is  true,  in  solemn  and  awful  tones,  but 
again  in  sweetest  accents  of  truest  love.  In  Nature 
I  see  the  hand  of  God.  Perhaps  I  touch  it,  but  it  is 
a  cold  hand.  I  almost  shrink  from  it.  In  the  Bible  I 
also  see  the  hand  of  God  ;  but  it  is  a  warm  hand,  and 
it  is  stretched  down  to  me.  I  grasp  it,  and  I  feel 
that  it  thrills  me  with  life  and  love.  Ah  !  more  than 
that.  In  the  Bible  I  behold  the  face  of  God,  and  it  is 
a  face  of  wondrous  loveliness.  And  as  I  gaze  upon 
it,  I  feel  the  throbbings  and  warmth  of  His  infinite 
loving  heart,  beating  in  deathless  sympathy  with 
fallen  humanity.  Do  we  truly  rejoice  in  the  revela- 
tion which  God  has  given  of  Himself,  that  we  may 


250 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


know  and  love  Him,  and  seek  and  enjoy  the  things 
which  are  pure  and  high  ?  If  we  do,  we  must  value 
and  exalt  the  Book  which  contains  this  precious  rev- 
laetion. 

3.  We  are  indebted  to  the  Bible  for  all  the  knowl- 
edge that  we  have  of  the  future  world.  We  know 
that  we  are  here  now ;  but  it  is  certain  that  we  are 
passing  away.  The  grave  yawns  darkly  before  us. 
Insatiate  death  is  on  our  track,  and  in  swift  pursuit 
of  us ;  and  before  many  years  it  will  drag  us  down 
into  the  shadowy  regions  of  the  unnumbered  dead. 
Is  it  not  natural  that  we  should  want  to  know  some- 
thing about  the  world  to  which  we  are  going  ?  In 
all  times  and  countries  men  have  longed,  thirsted 
and  panted  for  immortality.  Often,  amid  the  labors 
and  strivings  of  the  present  life,  it  has  seemed  to 
them  that  they  could  feel  the  restless  throbbings  of 
the  Immortal  within  themselves.  Millions,  stagger- 
ing under  the  burdens  of  earth,  have  hoped  that 
some  message-bearer  from  the  eternal  world  would 
come  to  them  bringing  the  knowledge  for  which 
their  hearts  ached.  Many  men  and  women  have 
been  so  anxious  to  get  news  from  their  departed 
friends  that  they  have  become  converts  to  modern 
Spiritualism,  and  professed  belief  in  its  absurd  pre- 
tensions and  stupid  impostures.  Suppose  that  at 
the  present  time  a  number  of  people  like  Lazarus, 
the  young  man  of  Nain,  and  the  daughter  of  Jarius 
should  be  raised  from  the  dead  and  brought  back  to 
life.  Suppose  that  they  should  bring  with  them  a 
clear  knowledge  of  the  life  beyond.    Would  there 


The  Greatest  Book  in  the  World.  251 

not  be  a  great  rush  of  the  multitudes  to  see  and  hear 
them  ?  and  would  they  not  be  besieged  with  eager 
questions  ?  Suppose  that  they  should  meet  in  a 
congress  to  exchange  experiences,  tell  what  they  had 
heard  and  seen  in  the  other  world,  and  discuss  the 
conditions  of  life  which  exist  there.  Would  not  a 
tremendous  interest  betaken  in  that  congress?  What 
crowds  would  want  to  attend  it,  and  what  careful 
arrangements  would  be  made  to  report  every  word 
that  might  be  spoken.  In  attendance  and  interest 
the  occasion  would  completely  eclipse  the  Minne- 
apolis and  Chicago  Conventions. 

But  there  is  a  Book  which  does  convey  to  us  some 
information  concerning  the  future  state.  It  tells  us 
of  wondrous  things  which  our  earthly  eyes  have  not 
yet  seen.  It  teaches  that  death  does  not  end  all ;  that 
beyond  this  vale  of  tears  there  is  an  endless  life ;  and 
that  the  righteous  will  rejoice  forever  with  Christ  in 
glory,  while  the  finally  wicked  will  be  hopelessly 
banished  from  the  presence  of  the  holy  God.  The 
knowledge  which  the  Bible  imparts  is  not  full  and 
minute.  It  is  not  enough  to  gratify  our  curiosity,  or 
to  answer  all  the  questions  that  men  may  ask.  But 
it  is  sufficient  to  enable  us  to  make  the  best  of  life 
in  this  world.  When  we  think  of  death  and  of  the 
life  beyond  death,  and  can  find  nothing  in  Nature  or 
human  philosophy  to  satisfy  the  anxious  longings  of 
our  souls,  is  it  not  refreshing  to  know  that  there  is 
one  Book  in  which  God  declares  His  unchanging 
love  to  His  people,  and  tells  them  something  of  their 
duty  and  destiny  ?    Surely  the  Book  which  rescues 


252  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


us  from  darkness  and  uncertainty  is  the  best  and 
greatest  of  books. 

4.  The  Bible  also  teaches  us  how  to  be  saved  from 
the  guilt  and  power  of  sin,  and  to  win  heaven.  If 
it  simply  showed  us  that  we  were  lost  and  helpless 
sinners,  and  then  left  us  in  our  ruined  state,  without 
revealing  to  us  any  way  or  hope  of  escape,  or  offering 
us  any  help,  it  would  merely  mock  and  taunt  us.  It 
would  only  aggravate  our  misery.  But  it  does  noth- 
ing of  the  kind.  In  the  Gospel  we  have  an  inspired 
record  of  the  birth,  and  life,  and  labors,  and  toils,  and 
teachings,  and  sufferings,  and  death,  and  resurrec- 
tion, and  ascension  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  the  all- 
perfect  Son  of  the  most  high  God.  He  is  the  bright- 
ness of  the  Father's  "glory,  and  the  express  image 
of  His  person."  (Hebrews  i :  3.)  "  This  is  a  faithful 
saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners."  (I  Tim- 
othy i:  15.)  There  is  a  sense  in  which  it  may  be 
said  that  He  took  our  place  under  God's  law,  suffered 
and  died  for  us,  and  rose  from  the  dead  and  went  up 
to  heaven  for  us ;  and  now  salvation  in  His  name 
may  be  preached  to  all  people.  The  ringing  invita- 
tions of  cross-bearing,  blood-sweating,  thorn-crowned, 
bleeding,  dying  love  are  addressed  to  sinners  every- 
where. We  are  all  exhorted  to  repent  of  our  wicked- 
ness, look  to  Christ  in  faith  and  come  into  union  with 
Him;  and  are  told  that  if  we  will  commit  ourselves 
to  Him  for  time  and  eternity,  our  sins  will  be  freely 
forgiven,  and  we  will  be  "  accepted  in  the  Beloved," 
and  finally  welcomed  to  heaven. 


The  Greatest  Book  in  the  World.  253 

We  are  always  anxious  to  get  relief  from  earthly 
sufferings.  When  we  are  stricken  with  physical 
disease  we  seek  healing.  It  is  our  nature  to  do  all 
that  we  can  to  prolong  our  lives.  Should  we  not  be 
still  more  earnest  and  diligent  in  our  strivings  to 
obtain  everlasting  life.  A  recent  letter  from  St. 
Petersburg  describes  a  wild  craze  which  prevailed 
in  the  Capitol  of  the  Russian  Empire  a  few  months 
ago.  Major  Gatchkowsky,  an  army  officer,  returned 
from  Asia,  where  he  had  spent  some  years.  He  had 
marvellous  stories  to  tell.  He  reported  that  in  his 
long  travels  he  had  passed  through  that  unknown 
and  mysterious  country  which  the  world  calls  Thibet. 
It  was  his  boast  that  he  had  visited  a  region  which 
no  European  had  ever  seen  before.  In  a  large  sec- 
tion of  that  strange  land  he  noticed  that  the  people 
never  died,  and  were  never  sick.  He  tried  to  learn 
the  secret  of  their  immortal  health  and  youth.  But 
for  a  long  time  they  refused  to  tell  him.  But  he 
waited  and  hoped,  and  finally  his  patience  was 
rewarded.  A  bright  young  man  of  four  or  five 
hundred  years  took  a  special  interest  in  him  because 
he  came  from  the  Empire  of  the  great  Czar,  and 
gave  him  the  secret  by  which  they  baffled  disease 
and  death.  The  infallible  remedy  was  a  life-giving 
elixir,  which  was  injected  into  the  veins  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  accommodating  young  man  also  explained 
the  process  by  which  the  precious  elixir  was  made. 
Here  was  a  man  who,  in  abundant  fertility  of  imagi- 
nation, could  even  surpass  the  patent-medicine 
men  of  our  own  country.    He  went  back  to  St. 


254  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


Petersburg,  told  his  story,  and  was  believed.  He 
claimed  that  he  possessed  the  secret  of  life  and  death. 
The  people  thronged  his  office.  They  gathered 
around  him  in  eager  crowds.  They  would  hardly 
give  him  time  to  sleep.  Not  only  did  the  common 
people  come,  but  bankers,  millionaires,  princes, 
nobles  and  Grand  Dukes,  all  swelled  the  human 
tide.  The  Czar  sent  for  his  son,  whose  health  was 
poor,  to  receive  the  new  treatment.  For  a  few  weeks 
the  Major  coined  money  more  rapidly  than  our  mint 
at  Philadelphia.  But  his  career  was  brief.  Two 
prominent  men,  into  whose  blood  the  death-prevent- 
ing elixir  had  been  injected,  died  suddenly.  Then 
a  fierce  reaction  came.  A  great  uproar  was  raised, 
and  Major  Gatchkowsky  fled  to  save  his  life.  The 
poor  deluded  people  in  their  reckless  efforts  to  secure 
immortal  life  in  this  world  of  trial  and  temptation, 
poured  their  money  freely  into  the -.pockets  of  a 
daring  swindler.  Oh  that  men  were  as  ready  to  be 
saved  as  they  are  to  be  humbugged !  With  what 
ceaseless  diligence  we  should  labor  for  the  life  of 
"peace  with  God  "  and  everlasting  blessedness.  But 
we  find  multitudes  who"  neglect  the  great  salvation" 
and  reject  the  Christ  of  the  gospel.  Many  who 
passed  through  the  years  of  youth,  and  are  now7  going 
down  the  western  slopes  of  the  hill  of  life  are  still 
living  "without  God  in  the  world."  Some  of  them, 
with  whitened  hair  and  furrowed  cheeks,  are  still 
hardening  their  hearts  against  the  Saviour  and  striv- 
ing against  the  Holy  Spirit.  Let  us  "seek  first  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness."  (Matthew 


The  Greatest  Book  in  the  World.  255 

vi :  33.)  Eternal  life  is  a  priceless  possession  and  an 
endless  and  glorious  inheritance.  Therefore  the 
Bible,  which  reveals  to  us  the  method  by  which  it  is 
to  be  secured,  is  a  book  of  mighty  and  measureless 
value. 

Now,  finally,  the  Bible  contains  God's  directions 
for  our  guidance  in  our  earthly  lives.  It  is  not  a 
book  of  minute  details  and  petty  by-laws,  but  rather 
a  book  of  great  facts  and  principles.  While  it  con- 
victs us  of  grievous  sin  and  flagrant  folly,  it  also 
credits  us  with  some  intelligence.  Not  many  years 
ago  a  bill  to  abolish  gambling  was  proposed  and  dis- 
cussed in  the  Kentucky  Legislature.  A  man  who 
was  supposed  to  have  sense  enough  to  be  a  member 
of  the  Legislature  opposed  the  bill.  He  argued  that 
gambling  was  not  wrong  because  there  was  nothing 
in  the  Bible  against  it.  He  said  that  he  had  read 
the  Good  Book  through  and  could  find  no  text  which 
said  "Thoushalt  not  gamble."  Perhaps  there  are 
other  men  who  are  as  foolish  as  that  Kentucky  leg- 
islator. Some  people  think  that  they  have  a  right 
to  do  anything  not  specifically  forbidden  in  God's 
Word.  But  they  mistake  the  character  and  methods 
of  the  Book.  It  never  paints  a  perfect  picture  of  a 
horse  and  then  writes  under  it  in  large  letters,  "  This 
is  a  horse."  Some  books  may  do  that,  but  the  Bible 
never  does. 

Of  course  it  contains  positive  commandments 
which  should  be  reverently  obeyed,  and  many  prec- 
ious promises  which  should  be  gladly  believed.  But 
it  is  especially  and  pre-eminently  the  book  of  Chris- 


256 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


tian  facts  and  principles.  When  we  study  its  pages 
carefully,  we  find  great  principles  which  are  stated 
in  strong  and  striking  language,  and  illustrated  by 
the  most  impressive  examples;  and  we  are  expected 
to  take  these  principles  and  apply  them  to  the  varied 
affairs  and  practical  questions  and  duties  of  every- 
day life.  The  medical  and  scientific  books  of  former 
ages  are  now  outgrown.  At  the  present  time  they 
would  be  regarded  as  the  relics  of  barbarism.  But 
the  Bible  is  never  antiquated.  It  is  as  well  suited 
to  one  generation  as  another,  because  it  declares  great 
spiritual  truths  with  which  all  men  should  be 
familiar,  and  teaches  great  spiritual  principles  by 
which  all  people  of  all  colors  and  countries  should 
regulate  their  conduct.  We  need  it  not  only  in  our 
homes  and  mouths,  but  especially  in  our  hearts.  The 
Psalmist  said,  "Thy  word  have  I  hid  in  mine  heart, 
that  I  might  not  sin  against  thee."  (Ps.  cxix  :  11.)  If 
all  the  millions  of  our  great  country  would  take  the 
Bible  as  their  guide  and  teacher,  and  live  in  con- 
tented obedience  to  its  precepts  and  principles,  a 
glorious  moral  revolution  would  quickly  follow.  Our 
people  would  be  vastly  better  and  happier  than  they 
are.  Real  estate  would  be  worth  more,  crops  would 
be  larger,  business  would  be  more  prosperous,  the 
health  of  the  people  would  be  improved,  and  there 
would  not  be  a  criminal  or  a  pauper  in  this  mighty 
republic.  This  would  be  "  IinmanuePs  land,"  and  we 
would  be  a  "  nation  whose  God  is  the  Lord."  Verily, 
our  country  would  be  a  suburb  of  heaven  itself. 
Surely  the  Bible,  which  can  exercise  such  hallowed 


The  Greatest  Book  in  the  World.  257 

influences,  and  do  so  much  for  the  moral  uplifting 
of  humanity,  is  a  most  wonderful  book. 

Is  it  not  the  greatest  of  books?  Myriads  of  books 
have  been  given  to  the  restless  world,  but  in  perma- 
nent value  the  Bible  rises  far  above  all  other  books, 
because  it  is  the  only  book  which  sheds  a  clear  light 
upon  the  hardest,  darkest  problems  of  human  life; 
the  only  one  which  gives  us  any  definite  idea  of  our 
exalted  origin  and  moral  state;  the  only  book  in 
which  God  reveals  Himself  to  us  as  our  Father  and 
Saviour;  the  only  book  in  which  we  catch  bright, 
sweet  glimpses  of  the  eternal  realities  of  the  future 
world;  the  only  book  which  teaches  "the  way  of  sal- 
vation," and  the  only  book  which  defines  the  relations 
which  we  sustain  to  God  and  to  each  other  in  the 
present  life. 

It  was  the  joy  and  delight  of  the  ancient  Psalmist. 
The  portions  of  it  which  he  possessed  were  more  to 
him  "  than  thousands  of  gold  and  silver."  But  what 
is  the  Bible  in  its  fullness  and  completeness  to  us 
who  live  now?  Do  we  give  it  the  chance  that  such 
a  book  should  have  ?  Do  we  receive  it  as  God's  Holy 
Word  and  bow  to  its  authority?  If  we  merely  lin- 
ger around  its  outer  edges,  or  speculate  upon  its  mys- 
teries, we  may  derive  little  or  no  benefit  from  it.  But 
if  we  come  to  it  with  an  earnest  desire  to  know  the 
truth  and  perform  our  duty,  and  a  fixed  intention  to 
do  the  will  of  God,  it  will  be  to  us  the  Book  of  Books. 
It  will  pour  the  light  of  heaven  into  our  souls  and 
upon  our  pathway,  and  will  lead  us  onward  and 
upward  until,  leaving  the  labors  and  sorrows  of  earth 
17 


258  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


behind  us,  we  will  pass  through  the  open  gates  of 
glory  and  enter  the  kingdom  of  everlasting  blessed- 
ness. 


THE  MODEL  LAYMAN— PHILEMON. 
By  Rev.  J.  W.  Jenkins, 
Of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  M.  E.  C,  S.. 


Sometimes,  in  the  course  of  our  ministrations,  it 
is  well  to  preach  on  Christian  character — to  present 
religion  in  life.  To  preach  of  Abraham,  Moses  and 
Paul  is  very  common.  But  we  think  that  it  would 
be  well  to  take  humbler  characters.  Those  charac- 
ters tower  so  far  above  the  common  people  that  they 
dare  not  aspire  to  imitate  them.  But  when  one 
from  the  common  walks  of  life  is  placed  before  them, 
it  will  be  an  inspiration. 

I  propose  to  talk  of  the  master  of  Onesimus,  the 
friend  of  Paul  and  of  preachers.  We  have  a  limited 
field  to  glean  from.  Only  one  short  chapter  of  twen- 
ty-five verses,  and  nearly  half  of  that  written  about 
others — ten  verses  about  the  servant  and  about  as 
many  about  the  master ;  and  yet  these  few  lines  pre- 
sent a  picture  of  a  lovely  character  and  a  beautiful 
home.  May  the  Father  help  me  to  delineate  that 
character  and  to  picture  that  home! 

He  was  a  most  lovable  man  in  Paul's  mind.  He 
thanked  God  for  him,  and  always  remembered  him 
in  his  private  devotions.  He  also  had  great  joy  and 
consolation  in  the  love  of  so  good  a  man.    The  first 


The  Model  Layman — Philemon.  259 


thing  that  attracts  our  attention  is  his  love — (verse 
5) — love  to  God.  "  Love  is  of  God,"  and  "  God  is 
love."  We  love  Him  because  He  first  loved  us.  He 
evidently  had  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  his 
heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  above. 
That  love  for  God  which  enabled  him  to  keep  all  of 
Christ's  commandments.  A  pure  and  heavenly  flame 
that  transfused  the  soul,  and  thrilled  it  with  a  divine 
joy.  A  love  that  effloresced  in  a  heavenly  conversa- 
tion and  an  active  Christian  life;  that  inspired  to 
noble,  Christ-like  deeds.  The  love  that  sent  Paul  to 
fight  with  beasts  at  Ephesus,  and  Peter  to  the  mar- 
tyr's cross.  Love  to  the  saints.  The  evidence  of  a 
genuinely  converted  soul.  "  We  know  that  we  have 
passed  from  death  unto  life  because  we  love  the  breth- 
ren." Of  course  he  loved  his  race — His  Master  loved 
them  and  gave  His  life  for  a  lost  and  ruined  world. 
So  every  Christian  that  truly  loves  God  will  love  all 
for  whom  Jesus  died — will  take  the  whole  world  into 
his  heart.  But,  then,  blood  is  thicker  than  water. 
"The  wTorld  will  love  its  own  and  them  only"  said 
Mr.  Wesley.  We  must  love  our  own,  but  not  them 
only.  Take  the  world  into  the  heart,  but  the  breth- 
ren into  its  warmest  chamber.  Jesus  loved  John  the 
best,  and  committed  his  weeping,  wudowed  mother 
to  his  loving  care.  We  have  a  common  birth,  a  com- 
mon Saviour,  a  common  Father,  and  a  common  heri- 
tage— how  can  we  help  having  a  common  love?  0, 
for  more  love  for  one  another  amid  the  trials,  temp- 
tations and  sorrows  of  life !  How  it  wrould  light  up 
our  homes  and  cheer  our  hearts  amid  life's  chilling 


260 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


gloom.  Whence  came  this  love?  It  sprang  from  a 
living  faith.  He  had  faith  in  God.  Evidently,  not 
merely  mental  belief,  but  a  trust  of  the  heart.  Saving 
faith.  The  indispensable  means  of  salvation.  The 
faith  that  lends  its  realizing  light ;  that  brings  the 
Invisible  in  sight;  that  enables  us  to  look  away  to 
Calvary  and  to  hang  all  our  hopes  upon  the  Cross. 
To  emerge  out  of  Nature's  night  into  the  marvelous 
light  and  liberty  of  God's  dear  children.  To  arise 
and  shine,  our  light  being  come,  and  the  glory  of 
God  risen  upon  us.  That  faith  which  grows  stronger 
and  stronger  while  the  days  are  going  by ;  that 
makes  a  man  mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling 
dowm  of  strongholds;  that  nerves  him  for  every  con- 
flict of  life,  and  causes  him  to  triumph  on  every  field 
of  fight ;  that  overcomes  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the 
devil,  and  that  at  last  smites  the  grim  monster  and 
lays  its  mighty  hand  upon  the  golden  gates  of  glory 
and  ushers  us  into  the  presence  of  God.  Faith  in 
the  brethren.  In  these  times,  when  man  is  losing 
confidence  in  his  fellow,  it  is  pleasant  to  study  the 
life  of  a  man  free  from  suspecting  the  saints.  Woe 
to  the  world  when  every  man  is  so  mean  that  he  sus- 
pects everybody  else  of  being  mean  like  himself. 
There  have  been  honest  people  in  all  the  ages,  and 
there  will  be  to  the  end  of  the  world.  Mutual  con- 
fidence is  a  beautiful  thing.  How  sweet  to  be  able 
to  trust  a  friend.  Nothing  is  so  hurtful  to  the  influ- 
ence of  the  church  as  mistrust  among  its  members. 
To  keep  each  other's  confidence,  let  us  make  ourselves 
worthy  of  it.    The  man  that  has  faith  in  God  must 


The  Model  Layman — Philemon.  261 


have  it  in  God's  children.  As  a  result  of  this  love 
and  faith,  "  Philemon  was  faithful  in  good  things  " 
(verse  7).  Wherefore,  by  their  fruits  you  shall  know 
them.  The  light  must  shine.  The  faith  must  work. 
His  soul  was  full  of  sympathy.  He  refreshed  the 
bowels  of  the  ministry,  and  of  course  of  the  saints. 

The  world  needs  sympathy.  Many  a  heart  is 
languishing,  breaking  for  it.  There  is  no  sadder 
refrain  that  breaks  from  the  human  soul  than  that 
of  David  when  he  cries,  "  No  man  cared  for  my  soul !" 
A  touch  of  sorrow  makes  the  world  akin.  It  wins 
when  every  other  means  fails.  Who  can  stand  before 
its  soft,  subduing  power.  It  is  the  essence  of  mercy 
and  distills  its  sweetness  like  the  evening  dew.  He 
was  obedient  to  authority  (verse  21).  Not  only 
willing  to  obey,  but  to  do  more  than  was  required. 
Willing  to  work  with  and  under  others.  The  church 
of  to-da}r  is  suffering  for  the  want  of  working  lay- 
men. Men  and  women  that  will  work  where  they 
are — that  will  do  the  nearest  thing  at  hand.  That 
will  co-operate  with  the  pastor.  That  will  talk  and 
sing  and  pray.  That  will  lend  a  helping  hand. 
The  harvest  is  white,  but  the  laborers  are  few.  The 
fields  of  the  world  will  never  be  reaped  until  the 
laity  take  hold. 

He  was  a  communicative  man  (verse  6).  Religion 
was  the  best  thing  in  the  world  to  him.  It  was  the 
pearl  of  great  price.  The  treasure  of  the  field.  He 
had  a  good  thing,  and  wanted  others  to  have  it  too. 
He  had  the  clear  light,  the  higher  life,  the  peace 
that  passeth  understanding,  the  heartfelt  joy,  the 


262  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


abiding  faith,  the  glorious  hope,  the  thrilling  love 
and  the  blessed  assurance.  He  did  not  hide  his 
light  under  a  bushel.  He  let  it  shine,  that  others 
might  be  guided  to  the  Father.  Methodists  formerly- 
talked  their  religion.  But  the  class-meeting  is 
largely  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  we  are  religious 
dummies.  We  are  ready  to  talk  of  everything  else. 
We  wag  our  tongues  eternally  in  worldly  things, 
often  in  frivolity  and  sometimes  in  sin.  We  meet 
our  fellows  along  the  highways,  or  sit  with  them  in 
our  homes,  and  never  part  our  lips  about  the  things 
of  greatest  concern.  "  Just  a  word  for  Jesus ;  "  how 
much  good  it  would  do.  We  have  all  heard  of  the 
infidel  blacksmith  who  was  led  to  Christ  by  a  plain, 
honest  man  who  approached  him  and  simply  said, 
"  I  am  deeply  concerned  for  your  soul."  God  help 
us  to  speak  it  out,  to  tell  it,  tell  it  again  till  no  one 
shall  say  of  the  children  of  men,  "  No  one  has  ever 
told  me  before."  Tell  it  humbly,  tell  it  gently,  tell 
it  earnestly. 

He  dispensed  a  liberal,  benevolent  hospitality.  A 
hospitality  not  only  to  his  friends,  but  those  who 
would  never  be  able  to  return  it  in  kind.  The 
pious  maiden,  Apphia,  in  her  works  of  faith  and  labor 
of  love,  and  the  superannuated  minister,  Archippus, 
found  a  happy  home  with  him.  Mark,  Aristar- 
chus,  Demas  and  Lucas  had  found  a  pleasant  lodging 
there,  and  Paul  had  rested  his  weary  body  upon  his 
downy  beds,  and  he  longed  to  lodge  again  amid  its 
sweet  influences.  This  beautiful  Southland  was 
once  noted  for  its  princely  hospitality.    The  world 


The  Model  Layman— Philemon. 


263 


knew  nothing  to  beat  it.  Things  have  changed. 
Our  fortunes  have  been  swept  away.  Of  course  we 
cannot  keep  up  the  style  of  former  days.  But  I  am 
happy  to  say,  from  blessed  experience,  that  our  peo- 
ple's hearts  and  homes  are  still  open  wide  to  enter- 
tain not  only  their  friends,  but  strangers.  May 
they  never  be  closed !  May  the  time  never  come 
when  God's  ministers  and  God's  poor  shall  not  find 
ready  admission  into  our  Christian  homes!  "He 
that  giveth  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  a  disciple  in  my 
name  shall  not  lose  his  reward,"  said  Jesus.  A 
stranger  knocked  at  the  parsonage  door  early  one 
morning  and  asked  for  a  piece  of  bread.  He  was 
cold  and  dirty.  Wife  said  come  in  and  warm. 
"  No,"  said  he,  "  I  will  soil  your  floor."  Little  wee 
Annie  asked  to  carry  the  cold  lunch  to  the  stranger. 
As  he  received  it  from  her  little  dimpled  hands,  with 
beaming  face  and  swelling  bosom  and  quivering 
lips  he  exclaimed  with  deep  emotion,  "  God  bless 
you!"  The  aroma  of  that  prayer  rests  upon  my 
heart  to  this  day. 

He  ruled  his  household.  He  evidently  exercised 
discipline  in  his  family.  He  must  have  been  a  busi- 
ness man. 

Onesimus  was  not  willing  to  submit  to  his  regula- 
tions, yet  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  cruel  or 
unreasonable.  When  Onesimus  was  converted,  he 
was  ready  to  return  to  his  master  and  make  repara- 
tion. "A  man  that  is  careless  in  his  business  will 
be  neglectful  of  his  religion."  Business  and  religion 
are  not  antagonistic.    Only  let  a  man  carry  his  reli- 


264  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


gion  into  his  every-day  affairs.  "  Not  slothful  in 
business,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord,"  is  a 
scriptural  injunction. 

Lastly,  he  had  a  church  in  his  house  (verse  2). 
Doubtless  he  was  a  member  of  some  church,  and  yet 
he  constituted  his  family  into  a  church.  Father, 
mother,  sister,  brother,  servants  and  sojourners,  all 
members.  One,  long  before  him,  the  father  of  the 
faithful,  had  commanded  his  house.  Another,  one 
of  earth's  bravest  and  best,  had  said,  "As  for  me  and 
my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord."  The  great  need 
of  the  world  is  home  religion.  This  is  the  primi- 
tive kind.  Wherever  Abraham  pitched  his  tent,  there 
he  erected  an  altar.  A  home  without  an  altar  is  a 
house  without  a  fire-place.  Family  prayer  is  the 
incense  of  the  home;  the  evening  and  morning  sac- 
rifice, the  perpetual  fire  that  burns  in  the  sanctuary 
of  our  homes,  and  sheds  its  light  upon  our  minds 
and  its  glow  upon  our  hearts. 

The  subject  of  my  discourse  presents  to  my  mind 
a  beautiful  picture.  I  see  a  godly  man,  with  heav- 
enly light  in  his  eyes  and  serenity  upon  his  brow. 
The  intelligent  face,  the  firm  step,  all  said  that  the 
elements  were  so  mixed  in  him  that  the  world 
might  stand  up  and  say,  "This  is  a  man."  The 
evening  shadows  have  fallen  around  his  beautiful 
home;  the  business  cares  of  the  day  are  over,  the 
fowls  are  on  the  perch,  the  flocks  are  in  the  fold  and 
the  herds  are  in  the  stall;  supper  is  over,  the  time 
for  retiring  has  come,  the  call  to  worship  is  made ; 
the  devoted  wife,  the  bounding  boys,  the  fair-faced 


The  Model  Layman — Philemon. 


265 


daughters,  the  faithful  domestics  and  the  deferential 
guests  gather  in  the  parlor;  he  takes  the  Book ;  he 
reads  the  Word ;  he  strikes  up  some  grand  old  hymn ; 
wife,  children,  guests,  servents  all  chime  in  ;  melting 
melody  floats  away  on  the  night  air;  the  trees  tremble 
with  gladness,  and  the  very  stars  quiver  with  joy, 
while  the  angels  pause  in  their  heavenly  flight  and 
join  their  glad  anthems  to  the  swelling  strains.  The 
song  ceases.  They  devoutly  kneel.  A  soft,  subdued 
voice  ascends  on  high.  He  calls  upon  the  Father  to 
bless  his  home.  To  bless  wife,  children,  servants  and 
friends.  Commits  all  to  the  care  of  Him  who  careth 
for  him.  The  filial  kiss,  the  sweet "  good-night "  passes 
around.  They  lie  down  to  soft  repose  upon  the 
bosom  of  His  love,  under  the  shadow  of  his  wing. 
The  sentinels  of  God  guard  the  sacred  scene,  and  the 
angel  of  peace  hovers  over  that  home. 

I  pen  these  lines  upon  the  spot  that  gave  me  birth. 
A  real  scene  akin  to  this  comes  up  before  me.  The 
manly  father,  the  meek-eyed  mother,  the  bright, 
affectionate  brothers  and  sisters,  the  old  family  Bible, 
the  songs,  the  prayers;  all,  all  are  here  to-day.  That 
light  has  never  faded  from  my  eye;  that  music  has 
never  died  out  of  my  soul;  they  have  cheered  me 
through  all  my  pilgrim  life;  they  will  go  with  me 
to  the  gates  of  glory.  God  speed  the  day  when  the 
family  altar  shall  be  set  up  in  every  Christian  home! 


266 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


*  THE  GROWING  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE 
AGES. 

By  Rev.  G.  A.  Oglesby, 
Presiding  Elder  of  the  North  Carolina  Conference  M.  E.  C.  S. 


"  Now  all  these  things  happened  unto  them  for  ensamples,  and  they 
are  written  for  our  admonition  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are 
come."— 1  Cok.  x  :  11. 

"The  literal  Greek  is  typically;  that  is  illus- 
tratively." We  are  here  presented  with  a  type  or 
illustration  of  God's  method  of  dealing  with  men. 
World  is,  in  the  Greek,  plural,  making  ends  of  the 
worlds.  The  word  signifies  age  or  dispensation ; 
implying  a  cycle  of  time  in  which  some  great  round 
of  providence  is  accomplished.  Hence,  if  the  word 
here  be  rendered  world,  it  must  be  understood  to  sig- 
nify not  cosmos,  the  material  world,  but  a  world- 
period,  or  time- world.  These  ages  or  time-worlds  of 
sacred  history  can  be  variously  measured.  We  may 
reckon  the  antediluvian  period  as  world  ;  the  Patri- 
archal; the  Mosaic  and  the  Christian."  We  have 
here  the  ending  of  all  these,  or  rather  their  converg- 
ing into  the  present  final  age.  This  is  the  age  for 
which  all  previous  ages,  as  time-worlds,  Were  framed. 
All  previous  ages  find  this  antetype  in  the  present 
age.  By  "  all  these  things "  we  are  to  understand 
the  things  enumerated  in  this  chapter.  How  they 
were  under  the  cloud,  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses, 
all  ate  the  same  spiritual  meat,  drank  the  same 


*  Preached  before  Washington  District  Conference  at  Williamstom 
N.  C,  June  12,  1890.   Its  publication  was  requested  by  the  Conference- 


The  Growing  Responsibility,  etc.  267 


spiritual  drink,  and  especially  God's  sore  punish- 
ment of  their  sins. 

The  whole  history  of  this  people  was  written  for 
our  admonition,  instruction.  It  is  both  representa- 
tive and  admonitive.  Representative  of  God's  divine 
superintendence,  admonitive  of  His  judgments 
against  sin.  Here  we  see  how  God  wrought  miracles 
in  their  defence — to  free  them  from  bondage,  how 
He  led  them  with  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  of  fire 
by  night,  fed  them  upon  manna,  gave  them  quails 
for  meat,  made  the  flinty  rock  to  yield  them  water, 
saved  them  from  the  deadly  bites  of  serpents,  gave 
them  victory  over  their  enemies  until  the  hearts  of 
the  nations  melted  within  them  at  the  mention  of 
their  name.  Here  we  see  how  His  sore  judgments 
came  upon  every  offender,  not  sparing  even  their 
leader,  Moses. 

"Upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are  come." 
The  idea  we  wish  to  enforce  is  the  growing  respon- 
sibility of  the  ages.  God  expects  more  of  us  to-day 
than  of  any  previous  age.  All  the  past  has  come 
down  to  us.  We  are  the  heirs  of  these  things.  As 
we  live  in  the  last  dispensation,  which  is  the  con- 
summation of  all  that  went  before,  our  responsibilities 
are  not  only  far  greater,  but  the  greater  guilt  will  be 
incurred  if  we  fall  short  of  our  privileges. 

"  I  the  heir  of  all  the  ages  in  the  foremost  files  of  time." 

Cbrysostom,  in  exile,  said:  "When  driven  from 
the  city  I  cared  nothing  for  it.  But  I  said  to  myself 
if  the  Empress  wishes  to  banish  me,  the  earth  is  the 


268 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


Lord's  and  the  fullness  thereof.  If  she  would  saw 
me  in  sunder,  let  her  saw  me  iu  sunder;  I  have 
Isaiah  for  a  pattern.  If  she  plunge  me  in  the  sea,  I 
remember  Jonah.  If  she  would  thrust  me  in  the 
fiery  furnace,  I  see  the  three  children  enduring  that. 
If  she  would  cast  me  to  the  wild  beasts,  I  call  to  mind 
Daniel  in  the  den  of  lions.  If  she  would  stone  me, 
let  her  stone  me ;  I  have  before  me  Stephen  the 
protomartyr.  If  she  would  take  my  head  from  me, 
let  her  take  it ;  I  have  John  the  Baptist.  If  she 
would  deprive  me  of  my  worldly  goods,  let  her  do  it; 
naked  came  I  into  the  world  and  naked  shall  I 
return."  From  this  we  see  how  this  great  and  good 
man  took  courage,  from  illustrious  examples,  in 
whatever  condition  the  Empress  might  see  fit  to 
place  him. 

The  idea  has  a  special  application  to  us.  We  not 
only  have,  in  common  with  all  Christians,  the  exam- 
ples, types,  as  illustrations  of  God's  power  and 
goodness  and  of  His  condemnation  of  sin  and  sin- 
ners, but  we  are  the  heirs  of  the  grandest  movement 
of  the  ages.  The  grandest  epoch  in  the  world's  his- 
tory, excepting  the  coming  of  Christ,  is  the  Wesleyan. 
Methodism  was  born  in  a  prayer-meeting,  it  is  true, 
but  a  prayer-meeting  of  cultured  men  in  one  of  the 
leading  institutions  of  England.  What  a  mighty 
movement  this !  How  these  people  were  all  on  fire 
and  yet  did  not  lose  their  judgment.  Every  avail- 
able avenue  to  the  hearts  and  homes  of  the  people 
was  employed.  Colleges  were  founded,  churches 
erected,  papers,  magazines,  tracts,  pamphlets  and 


The  Growing  Responsibility,  etc.  269 


books  were  published  and  extensively  and  vigorously 
circulated,  missionary  collections  were  taken  and 
missionaries  sent  abroad.  One  is  disposed  to  over- 
look these  facts  as  he  reads  of  Wesley  and  Whitfield 
with  burning  eloquence  moving  and  swaying  the 
multitude  upon  the  streets  and  in  the  fields.  This 
movement — with  the  world,  state,  church  and  the 
devil  against  it,  and  not  a  few  said  the  Lord  was 
against  it — stirred  England  from  centre  to  circum- 
ference; so  changed  the  machinery  of  government 
and  wove  itself  into  its  institutions,  that  the  history 
of  England  cannot  be  written  to-day  without  writing 
the  history  of  Methodism.  England  could  not  hold 
it;  crossing  the  Atlantic  it  rolled  down  through  the 
colonies  like  a  sea  of  holy  fire;  and  as  a  tidal  wave 
of  glory  it  found  its  way  to  the  islands  of  the 
seas — holds  the  world  in  its  embrace,  for  the  sun 
never  sets  upon  Methodist  chapels. 

Methodism  is  the  grandest  fact  in  this  great  coun- 
try of  ours.  One-third  of  the  people  of  these  United 
States  are  under  its  influence  and  are  allied  with  it. 

Surely,  the  Lord  was  in  this  movement.  To  it  is 
due,  more  than  to  all  other  forces  combined,  the  great 
missionary  movement  of  this  century ;  so,  largely, 
of  the  Sabbath-school  movement;  and  the  tract  socie- 
ties owe  no  little  of  their  existence  and  life  to  Meth- 
odism. The  doctrines  of  Spiritual  regeneration,  the 
knowledge  of  sins  forgiven,  and  holiness,  without 
which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord,  are  peculiar  to  it, 
and  distinguish  it  from  all  others. 


270  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


A  grand  record  this.  In  the  providence  of  God 
it  has  been  written  for  our  admonition.  These  things 
have  come  upon  us.  He  who  is  ignorant  of  them  is 
culpable,  and  he  who  is  not  stirred  by  them  is  doubly 
guilty.  There  is  much  here,  every  way,  of  which  to 
boast — much  to  admire.  We  feel  like  taking  off  our 
hats  in  the  presence  of  the  men  and  women  whom 
God  thus  honored,  a,nd  through  whom  He  wrought 
such  wonders.  But  shall  we  wonder,  admire  and 
applaud,  and  not  be  stirred  by  these  things?  I  have 
not  called  your  attention  to  them  merely  to  boast. 
It  is  true,  I  thank  God  that  I  have  been  accounted 
worthy  to  have  part  in  the  ministry  of  a  church 
that,  tried  by  every  Scriptural  test,  is  the  most  di- 
vinely appointed,  heaven-favored  and  God-blessed 
church  in  the  world,  but  I  am  not  here  to  parade 
these  things — to  make  display.  We  cannot  live  upon 
display.  The  sorriest  man  in  the  world  is  he  who 
would  live  solely  upon  the  achievements  of  his  father. 
Of  all  the  contemptible  fellows  the  wrorld  is  ever 
cursed  with,  he  is  most  contemptible  who  parts  his 
hair  in  the  middle,  swaggers  about,  talks  in  balder- 
dash, and  expects  recognition  and  patronage  because 
his  father,  by  dint  of  effort,  climbed  from  the  dung- 
hill to  the  mansion.  A  church  that  relies  solely 
upon  its  past  record,  and  seeks  patronage  and  invites 
men  and  women  to  become  its  communicants  upon 
what  it  has  been,  without  regard  to  what  it  is  and 
gives  promise  of,  is  just  as  mean  and  contemptible. 

We  hear  of  a  dead  past,  but  the  past  is  dead  only 
to  dead  men  and  fools.    To  live  men  the  past  is  ter- 


The  Growing  Responsibility,  etc.  271 

ribly  alive  a  great  surging,  throbbing,  beating  sea 
of  life.  I  am  no  hero-worshiper,  but  they  who  read 
the  life  of  John  Wesley  unmoved  are  dead  indeed; 
or  of  Whitfield,  and  desire  not  the  eloquence  of  holy 
fervor,  are  unworthy  of  their  calling;  or  of  Fletcher, 
and  not  desire  holiness  of  life,  are  sinners  of  deepest 
dye. 

It  is  well  that  we  pause  here  and  take  our  reckon- 
ing. Let  us  be  honest  with  ourselves,  as  those  that 
must  give  an  account.  As  men  of  God,  as  preachers 
and  laymen,  are  we  up  to  the  standard?  Have  we 
the  faith,  the  life,  the  power,  the  fire,  the  zeal,  the  go 
that  should  characterize  redeemed  men  and  women 
who  have  become  the  heirs  of  all  the  grand  past,  and 
especially  the  heirs  of  that  matchless  display  of 
divine  grace  exhibited  in  the  Wesleyan  movement? 
We  are  not  only  the  heirs  of  God's  grace  offered  in 
Christ  to  a  guilty  world,  but  the  heirs  of  the  exhibi- 
tions of  it  from  the  time  of  righteous  Abel  through 
the  Patriarchal,  Mosaic,  Prophetic  and  Apostolic  ages, 
and  down  to  this  grand,  glad  day  of  ours,  when  the 
watchmen  are  almost  ready  to  proclaim  the  coming 
of  complete  and  universal  victory. 

If  the  victories  of  Miltiades  would  not  suffer  The- 
mistocles  to  sleep,  how  dead  must  that  church  mem- 
ber be  who  slumbers  in  the  presence  of  these  things! 
If  Csesar's  image  inspired  Napoleon,  how  unworthy 
those  ministers  and  laymen  who,  never  inspired,  are 
always  learning  and  never  coming  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth ! 


272 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


Brethren,  it  is  a  glorious,  and  yet  an  awful  thing 
to  live  in  this  our  day— glorious  to  those  who  meet 
its  responsibilities  and  opportunities,  but  awful  to 
those  who  read  but  will  not  learn  !  As  ministers  of 
Christ,  what  sore  condemnation  awaits  us  if  untrue 
to  our  mission ! 

I  have,  in  the  fear  of  God,  tried  to  study  the  situ- 
ation and  get  at  the  facts,  and  they  lead  to  the  fol- 
lowing conclusions: 

1.  That  there  is  a  want  of  breadth  of  view,  and  an 
absence  of  faith  in  God  and  in  the  power  of  His 
Word.  We  have  not  looked  well  to  the  import  of 
our  marching  orders.  We  have  practically  abridged 
the  commission.  The  Master  said,  "Go  ye  into  all 
the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature"  Our 
plans  do  not  measure  up  to  this.  Practically,  we 
have  made  all  the  world  to  mean  part  of  it.  We 
have  gulped  down  the  hackneyed,  unscriptural 
dogma,  that  "  charity  begins  at  home."  Every  crea- 
ture means  some  creatures.  Some  men  are  recog- 
nized as  reprobates,  and  we  never  pray  for  them  nor 
preach  to  them.  We  have  practically  limited  the 
power  of  the  gospel  to  save  to  children  and  the 
petted  portion  of  the  adult  population.  God  can 
save  the  worst  man  in  this  town  as  easily  as  the  boy  of 
ten  summers.  But  this  is  not  our  question  primarily. 
Whether  God  can  or  cannot  save,  whether  willing  or 
unwilling  to  bestow  mercy,  and  whether  men  accept 
or  reject,  we  must  go.  God  has  said  "go  into  all  the 
world,"  to  "every  creature."  To  the  poor  drunkard, 
to  the  libertine,  the  liar,  the  thief,  the  money-shark — 


The  Growing  Responsibility,  etc.  273 

all  must  have  the  gospel.  No  question  of  ours 
whether  they  come  or  not;  God  has  sent  us  to  them, 
and  we  must  go  or  be  disobedient.  The  question  is 
not  whether  they  will  come,  but  whether  we  can 
save  our  souls  without  preaching  the  gospel  to  them. 
The  command  is  go,  and  we  must  go  or  die.  It  may 
be  hard  and  unpleasant;  against  our  judgment,  our 
sense  of  propriety;  it  may  provoke  the  world's  ridi- 
cule, but  it  is  God's  order  and  must  be  obeyed  at  all 
cost. 

2.  There  is  a  consequent  disposition  to  fall  into 
ruts  and  become  stereotyped.  We  do  the  things  that 
are  easily  done  and  avoid  difficult  things.  We  neg- 
lect the  homes  that  most  need  us,  and  go  to  the  peo- 
ple who  are  going  to  heaven  whether  the  preacher 
visits  them  or  not.  In  nothing  else  is  so  much  weak- 
ness displayed,  so  little  wisdom  seen.  Truly  the 
children  of  this  world  are  in  this  generation  wiser 
than  the  children  of  light.  The  physician  gives 
medicine  to  the  sick,  we  to  those  that  are  well.  The 
politician  visits  and  seeks  to  make  converts  from  the 
enemy's  ranks,  and  only  visits  his  friends  to 
enthuse  them  and  point  out  some  work  for  them  to 
do.  The  wise  general  fortifies  his  weak  points,  the 
man  of  business  seeks  new  customers  and  new 
markets  for  his  wares.  The  prudent  farmer  stops 
the  holes  in  his  fence  and  builds  up  the  low  places. 
But  we  who  ought  to  be  wise  as  serpents  and  harm- 
less as  doves  go  round  in  regular  tread-mill  style. 
See  the  fence  down  here,  the  briar  and  bramble 
growing  up  there,  the  tares  choking  the  wheat 
18 


274  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


yonder,  and  burden  our  reports  with  a  recital  of 
these  facts,  but  never  think  of  trying  to  correct  them. 
This  would  be  something  new  under  the  sun,  would 
take  us  out  of  our  way,  would  require  us  to  go  where 
there  is  no  beaten  way. 

3.  We  are  wanting  in  tact  as  pastors.  We  do  not 
overrate  the  importance  of  revivals,  but  underrate 
the  value  of  continued  personal  effort  to  save  souls. 
I  say  we  are  wanting  in  this  capacity.  We  are  not 
skilled.  Ministers  of  other  churches  beat  us  catch- 
ing fish  with  hook  and  line.  It  does  not  meet  the 
case  to  say  we  catch  more  than  they  in  the  long  run. 
Our  failure  or  success  is  not  measured  by  the  record 
of  other  ministers.  We  must  do  all  we  can,  always 
at  work,  in  season  and  out,  and  by  every  available 
method.  Our  failure  here  is  due  more  to  our  want 
of  skill  than  to  our  unwillingness  to  do  work.  In 
nothing  else  we  do,  do  we  so  much  need  to  heed  the 
injunction  of  the  apostle,  "  Study  to  make  yourself 
a  workman  thatneedeth  not  to  be  ashamed,  approved 
of  God."  If  you  ask  me  how  to  become  skilled  as 
pastors,  I  answer  I  know  no  way  except  to  go  at  it. 
Study  men,  their  tempers,  their  dispositions,  habits, 
and  pray  God  to  give  you  access  to  them.  Let  us  bear 
in  mind,  brethren,  that  ours  is  a  work  where  no  task 
can  be  shunned,  a  warfare  where  flinching  is  not 
allowed.  Men  that  will  not  do  this  work  must  go 
to  the  wall.  We  must  thoroughly  furnish  ourselves 
to  every  good  word  and  work,  or  be  covered  with 
shame,  confusion  and  endless  condemnation.  "  He 
that  seeth  the  wolf  coming  and  fleeth  is  an  hireling 


The  Growing  Responsibility,  etc.  275 

and  not  the  shepherd  of  the  sheep  The  good  shep- 
herd giveth  his  life  for  the  sheep." 

4.  Be  it  said  to  our  shame,  brethren,  that  we  have 
not  been  diligent,  as  the  Lord  counts  diligence,  even 
in  those  things  which  we  propose  to  do.  It  may 
not  be  charged  upon  preachers  that  they  are  lazy. 
Heaven's  eternal  pity  be  upon  the  man  that  has  been 
trusted  to  watch  for  souls  and  sleeps  upon  his  oars. 
The  English  language  has  no  word  to  express  my 
contempt  for  such  a  man.  While  it  is  true  that  we 
may  not  be  charged  with  downright  laziness,  yet  we 
are  not  the  live,  diligent,  faithful  men  that  our  calling 
demands.  We  may  count  our  beads  and  number 
our  prayers,  but  we  must  plead  guilty.  The  church 
contemplated  unceasing  endeavor  when  it  gave  us 
our  authority  and  sent  us  out.  It  took  a  solemn 
pledge  from  us  never  to  be  unemployed,  never  to  be 
triflingly  employed ;  to  be  diligent  in  prayer,  in  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  cheerfully  and  gladly 
do  the  work  belonging  to  the  office  of  the  gospel 
minister.  No  set  of  men  are  under  higher  moral 
obligations  than  Methodist  preachers.  If  the  people 
had  a  right  to  choose  their  pastors,  they  have  given 
it  up.  They  are  expected  to  receive  whoever  is  sent, 
and  give  him  moral  and  pecuniary  support.  They 
must  needs  suffer  if  he  is  heartless  and  unfaithful. 
The  church  has  wisely  arranged  to  guard  its  interests 
here,  making  such  neglect  an  immorality. 

"  The  member  of  an  Annual  Conference,  as  such, 
has  a  franchise  and  prerogative  which  a  local  preacher 
has  not,  and  more  is  required  of  him.    To  him  per- 


276 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


tains  the  pastoral  care  and  administration  of  dis- 
cipline. There  is  a  provision  for  his  support  by  the 
church  while  in  its  active  service ;  and  also  for  his 
wants  as  a  superannuated  preacher,  and  for  those  of 
his  widow  and  orphans.  He  is  under  vows  to  employ 
all  his  time  in  the  work  of  God ;  and  not  only  to 
work,  but  to  do  that  part  of  the  work  and  at  those 
times  and  places  which  the  church  through  her  con- 
stituted authorities  judges  to  be  best  and  directs.  He 
voluntarily  continues  among  those  subject  to  appoint- 
ment. At  any  time  before  the  laborers  are  assigned 
to  the  various  fields,  he  could  retire  regularly.  After- 
wards to  refuse  to  attend  to  the  work  assigned,  is  to 
cease  to  travel  without  the  consent  of  the  Annual 
Conference.  This  strikes  a  vital  blow  at  the  itiner- 
ant system.  If  one  may  do  this,  so  may  others;  the 
appointments  fall  through,  the  congregations  are  dis- 
persed, and  by  reason  of  this  negligence  'great  hurt 
and  hindrance'  may  befall  the  church.  He  breaks 
his  covenant  with  the  Conference  and  the  church ; 
and  whoever  does  this  is  liable  to  be  broken  of  his 
office  and  even  to  be  degraded  from  the  ministry. 
The  people  surrendered  their  right  to  supply  them- 
selves with  a  pastor  and  looked  to  the  Conference. 
The  Conference  engaged  to  supply  them  and  looked 
to  this  man,  and  he  has  not  fulfilled  his  engagement. 
Every  itinerant  is  under  covenant  with  the  church 
for  pastoral  services,  at  least,  till  the  next  session  of 
Conference.  The  church,  as  she  values  her  economy, 
has  guarded  this  point  strongly,  and  whoever  violates 
it  ought  to  be  well  prepared  to  answer  for  it  to  his 


The  Growing  Responsibility,  etc.  277 


brethren.  Having  refused  to  keep  his  appointment, 
the  Conference  may  place  him  in  the  class  of  minis- 
ters who  are  not  subject  to  appointment;  or  he  may 
be  censured  by  suspension  ;  or,  in  an  aggravated  case 
of  ministerial  unfaithfulness,  he  may  be  deposed." 
Manual  of  Discipline,  pages  142,  143. 

5.  We  fail,  largely,  to  properly  appreciate  the 
value  of  lay  help.  No  preacher  can  succeed  without 
the  co-operation  of  his  people.  If  your  people,  from 
indifference,  want  of  information,  or  from  any  cause 
fail  to  co-operate  with  you,  your  first  work  is  to  secure 
this  end.  If  a  preacher  remains  an}'  considerable 
time  on  a  work,  hauling  his  church  in  a  one-horse 
wagon — to  use  Sam  Jones'  figure — while  they  ply 
the  lash,  it  requires  all  our  credulity  to  accept  his 
claim  to  a  call  to  the  ministr}7.  God  never  called  a 
fool  to  preach,  and  he  is  a  fool  if  he  does  not  ditch 
such  a  crowd  as  that  before  he  goes  a  mile.  I  have 
no  apology  for  the  sins  of  the  people,  but  if  they  are 
not  right  it  is  our  business  to  correct  them.  We  are 
leaders,  and  if  they  do  not  follow  it  is  our  fault. 
There  is  a  key  that  will  unlock  every  heart — a  plan 
by  which  every  man  will  work.  It  is  folly  to  go 
forward  without  the  people,  as  unwise  as  a  general 
charging  the  enemy  while  his  men  lie  in  camp.  We 
must  plant  ourselves  here  and  stay  until  we  have 
taken  the  citadel.  We  must  show  the  people  that 
we  mean  business;  that  we  are  worthy  leaders;  that 
we  are  determined  to  succeed — and  they  will  follow, 
if  for  no  other  reason,  because  of  our  importunity. 
We  must  employ  the  laity.    We  need  all  the  force 


278  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


we  can  command.  We  must  point  them  out  some- 
thing to  do,  and  see  that  they  do  it.  Wesley's  unpre- 
cedented success  is  attributable  almost  wholly  to  this 
fact.  He  put  the  people  to  work,  men  and  women. 
He  wisely  concluded  that  eveiybody  was  good  for 
something,  and  sought  to  put  everyone  in  his  proper 
place.  A  comparison  of  the  ministry  of  Wesley 
with  that  of  Whitfield  gives  us  a  striking  illustration. 
In  no  particular  was  Whitfield  inferior  to  Wesley. 
Strong,  cultured,  systematic,  faithful,  eloquent  — 
almost  without  a  peer  as  a  preacher  of  the  Word — 
crowds  flocked  to  hear  him,  and  souls  were  converted 
by  the  hundred  under  his  ministry.  But  he  did  not 
organize.  Wesley  did.  The  Wesleyan  Methodists 
are  counted  by  the  million  to-day,  while  there  is  only 
a  handful  of  Whitfield  Methodists.  Indeed,  Whit- 
field would  be  without  organic  representation  in  the 
world  to-day,  had  not  Lady  Huntington  organized 
some  of  his  converts  into  classes — after  Wesley's 
plan — and  built  them  chapels. 

I  would  speak  further  touching  this  question,  and 
show  the  importance  of  employing  the  laymen  in  all 
departments  of  church  work,  especially  in  prayer 
and  class-meetings,  Sabbath-schools,  mission  socie- 
ties, and  make  special  reference  to  woman's  work  for 
missions,  but  we  hope  to  have  these  questions  dis- 
cussed later, in  the  Conference. 

6.  Again,  brethren,  I  fear  we  have  not  tarried  at 
Jerusalem  until  we  have  been  endowed  with  power. 
We  have  gone  a  warfare  on  our  own  charges,  have 
trusted  too  much  to  purely  human  means.    We  have 


The  Growing  Responsibility,  etc.  279 


not  felt  our  need  of  the  holy  anointing.  There  is  an 
absence  of  the  old-time  power.  We  have  more  cul- 
ture in  the  aggregate,  perhaps,  but  less  power,  more 
that  is  purely  human  and  less  of  the  divine.  "  Ye 
shall  receive  power  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
come  upon  }'ou,  and  then  witnesses  unto  me."  If  the 
disciple  apostle  who  had  been  trained  by  the  Mas- 
ter Himself  needed  this  power,  verily  we  need  it. 
Human  nature  is  the  same,  sin  is  just  as  deeply 
rooted  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  the  obstructions  to 
the  progress  of  the  gospel,  though  different,  are  as 
numerous  and  formidable  now  as  then.  The  devil 
is  no  less  a  devil  because  appearing  in  the  form  of 
an  angel  of  light,  and  has  not  abated  one  iota  of  his 
efforts  to  damn  immortal  souls.  As  ministers  we 
need  the  baptism  of  the  spirit,  power  from  above. 
To  go  without  it  is  the  purest  folly,  is  to  violate  the 
divine  order. 

1.  We  need  it  to  sanctify  us,  cleanse  us  from  sin. 
It  is  one  office  of  the  spirit  to  give  purity.  The  very 
emblems  employed  to  represent  Him  convey  this 
idea.  Fire,  air  and  water,  all  signify  purity.  "  He 
shall  baptize  you,"  said  John,  "  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  with  fire,  whose  fan  is  in  his  hand  and  He  will 
thoroughly  purge  His  floor."  As  men  of  God, 
embassadors  of  Christ,  we  must  be  pure  men,  pure 
in  thought,  word  and  deed.  Our  characters  should 
be  as  transparent  as  crystal.  We  should  reflect  the 
glory  of  God. 

f  stopped  a  short  time  since  at  Cape  Hatteras  light- 
house, one  of  the  most  important  light-houses  on  the 


280 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


Atlantic  coast.  The  building  is  two  hundred  feet 
high,  a  magnificent  structure.  The  lens,  of  several 
hundred  pieces,  alone  cost  two  thousand  dollars. 
The  object  is  to  keep  the  sailor  from  wrecking  his 
craft  on  the  Diamond  Shoals,  some  twelve  miles 
away,  a  sea  in  which  no  boat  will  live  long.  But 
with  nothing  was  I  more  struck  than  with  the  clean- 
liness of  every  thing.  It  is  the  cleanest  place  I  have 
seen  in  North  Carolina,  not  only  in  the  light-house 
itself,  but  in  the  homes  of  the  keepers  there  is  the 
utter  absence  of  dust,  stains  and  every  thing  of  the 
sort.  In  the  kitchens,  bed-rooms,  sitting-rooms, 
every  where  your  eye  falls  there  is  cleanliness.  Why 
is  this?  First  of  all,  the  keepers  are  nice,  cleanly 
people.  Then  the  government  requires  it,  and  an 
inspector  visits  the  place,  often  comes  when  not 
expected,  to  see  that  it  is  done.  Why  all  this  care 
and  expense?  The  purpose  is  to  prevent  the  loss  of 
life  and  property.  The  finest  lens  in  the  world 
would  be  unable  to  throw  its  light  out  to  sea  if  cov- 
ered with  dust.  But  why  be  so  cleanly  and  neat  in 
their  dwellings,  which  are  some  seventy-five  yards 
from  the  light-house?  Because  if  not  free  from  dust 
in  their  homes  they  will  carry  it  with  them  into  the 
light-house.  If  this  care  and  painstaking  be  neces- 
sary to  prevent  the  loss  of  life  and  property,  how 
pure  and  spotless  ought  we  to  be  who  watch  for 
souls.  How  careful  that  our  light  always  burns 
brightly.  If  we  do  not  keep  pure  in  our  homes  and 
among  our  people  we  will  not  be  pure  in  the  pulpit. 
If  our  souls  be  covered  with  the  dust  of  sin  during 


The  Growing  Responsibility,  etc.  281 


the  week,  we  will  bring  the  dust  into  the  pulpit  on 
the  Sabbath  to  obscure  the  light  of  divine  truth. 

2.  But  we  need  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  to  give 
power.  "And  ye  shall  receive  power  after  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  corne  upon  you."  I  stood,  a  few  days 
since,  beside  the  casket  that  contained  the  remains  of 
.a  sweet  little  girl,  while  a  devoted  brother  bent  over 
her  form  and  sobbed  aloud  with  grief.  Except  the 
pallor  upon  the  cheek,  there  was  every  sign  of  life. 
She  looked  as  if  only  asleep.  Every  feature  was  per- 
fect, and  the  little  lips  looked  as  if  ready  to  speak. 
But  it  was  only  the  form  of  the  little  girl's  real  self. 
The  spirit  was  gone,  and  there  was  no  power  there. 
Likewise,  we  may  have  the  form  of  godliness,  cul- 
ture, clerical  coats,  clerical  airs,  holy  tones,  much 
eloquence;  may  have  the  best  church  machinery  in 
the  world,  every  accomplishment,  every  appliance, 
but  if  without  the  Spirit  we  are  dead,  powerless, 
useless.  "  We  are  as  salt  without  its  savor,  fit  only 
for  the  dunghill."  The  absence  of  power  implies 
weakness.  The  absence  of  a  life-giving  implies  a 
life  destroying  quality.  A  minister  without  this  qual- 
ification is  a  disgrace  to  his  calling,  and  will  leave  a 
trail  of  death  everywhere  he  goes.  We  must  so 
preach  the  Word  as  to  save  ourselves  and  them 
that  hear  us.  To  lose  our  congregations  is  to  lose 
our  own  souls.  With  this  power  we  can  take  this 
country  for  Chirst;  without  it,  we  can  stand  and 
gaze  and  wonder  and  perish,  see  it  perish  and  perish 
with  it. 


282 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


A  thousand-and-one  remedies  are  offered  to  put  the 
church  in  first-class  shape  for  work  :  one  wants  more 
education,  more  culture;  another,  better  houses  of 
worship,  others  think  certain  changes  iu  the  laws 
would  relieve  all  difficulties.  These  things  are  not 
to  be  despised,  but  the  need  of  needs  is  the  Spirit  of 
God — power  from  above.  The  ministers  need  it,  the 
church  needs  it,  and  we  must  have  it,  or  sinners  will 
go  to  hell  by  the  thousand,  and  we  with  them.  You 
may  call  it  the  second  blessing,  the  tenth  or  the  twen- 
tieth, but  we  need  it.  We  are  out  of  harmony  with 
God's  rule  without  it.  A  few  humble  fishermen,  ignor- 
ant and  unlearned,  were  invincible  with  it;  were 
cowards  without  it.  Peter,  without  it,  denied  his  Lord; 
with  it  endured  stripes,  imprisonment  and  death. 

We  may  not,  dare  not,  go  to  this  work  without  prep- 
aration, the  best  we  can  make,  all  that  study  and 
prayer  will  supply,  coupled  with  God-given  power. 
The  warrior  is  prepared  for  the  battle,  drilled  at 
school,  in  camp,  and  not  only  supplied  with  the 
munitions  of  war,  but  his  soul  is  fired  with  patriot- 
ism and  ambition.  -He  fills  himself  with  the  heroic 
deeds  of  the  great  warriors  until  he  pants  for  the 
field  of  conflict,  and  longs  to  wear  the  laurels  of 
victory.  The  statesman  is  prepared  for  his  work; 
the  architect  spends  years  in  preparation,  so  of  the 
artist,  the  teacher,  the  physician.  Much  more  should 
we,  for  ours  is  a  far  more  important  and  more  diffi- 
cult work  than  theirs. 

Finally,  my  brethren,  the  fact  that  ours  is  the 
noblest,  the  most  exalted  of  callings,  and  the  cer- 


The  Growing  Responsibility,  etc.  283 


tainty  of  ultimate  success,  should  beget  diligence, 
enthusiasm,  zeal. 

Stimulated  by  all  the  hallowed  influences  that 
pour  down  upon  us  from  every  age  of  the  past, 
inspired  by  the  prospect  of  certain  and  glorious  vic- 
tory, ennobled  by  the  character  of  the  work,  and 
empowered  by  our  God,  let  us  go  forth  to  take  this 
country  for  Christ.  One  has  said,  "In  the  past  the 
world's  heroes  were  its  great  warriors — its  destroyers; 
but  its  heroes  of  to-day  are  its  saviours — God's  mes- 
sengers." Who  does  not  applaud  the  heroic  endeav- 
ors of  the  old  statesmen  ?  But  they  built  nations  and 
empires,  grand  though  they  were,  only  to  see  them 
crumble  into  ruins.  He  is  dead,  indeed,  who  is  not 
stirred  by  the  splendid  achievements  in  the  world  of 
art,  painting,  drawing,  statuary.  So  in  the  world  of 
letters;  so  of  architecture.  How  grandly  these  things 
display  the  wonderful  capabilities  of  the  human  mind, 
and  yet  how  tame  compared  with  the  work  God  has 
sent  us  to  do.  These  things  are  splendid  in  their 
sphere,  but  ours  begins  upon  a  far  higher  plane. 
These  are  human  creations,  fashioned  after  human 
models,  the  products  of  splendid  genius,  but  ours  is 
after  a  divine  model,  born  of  infinite  love  and  infi- 
nite wisdom.  The  material  wrought  into  all  human 
inventions  is  of  the  earth  earthy,  and  subject  to 
decay;  ours  is  spiritual,  to  be  changed  from  glory 
to  glory. 

Not  so  with  God's  messengers.  We  fight  not  as 
those  that  beat  the  air.  We  toil,  but  not  in  vain. 
We  sow  with  the  assurance  that  we  shall  reap.    "  For 


284  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


as  the  rain  cometh  down,  and  the  snow  from  heaven, 
and  returneth  not  thither,  but  watereth  the  earth, 
and  maketh  it  bring  forth  and  bud,  that  it  may  give 
seed  to  the  sower  and  bread  to  the  eater:  so  shall 
my  word  be  that  goeth  forth  out  of  my  mouth ;  it 
shall  not  return  unto  me  void,  but  it  shall  accomplish 
that  which  I  please,  and  shall  prosper  in  the  thing 
whereto  I  sent  it.  He  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth, 
bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again 
with  rejoicing,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him. 

Here  we  are  assured  of  certain  harvest,  but  we 
must  bear  in  mind  that  the  reaping  will  be  propor- 
tioned to  the  sowing.  He  that  soweth  sparingly, 
shall  reap  sparingly.  A  cup  of  cold  water,  a  little 
refreshing,  brings  its  reward.  The  smallest  affairs 
are  carefully  noted.  Mere  crumbs  of  truth  scattered 
here  and  there  are  as  bread  cast  upon  the  waters, 
that  shall  be  gathered  up  in  the  day  of  reaping. 
But  if  we  would  have  an  abundant  harvest,  we  must 
sow  abundantly.  "He  that  soweth  bountifully  shall 
reap  also  bountifully."  Lord,  we  have  left  all  and 
followed  thee;  what  shall  we  have  therefor?  What 
shall  we  have?  "You  shall  sit  on  twelve  thrones, 
judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel ; "  all  that  you  have 
lost  shall  be  centupled  to  you.  "  There  is  no  man 
that  hath  left  house,  or  parents,  or  brethren,  or  wife, 
or  children,  for  the  kingdom  of  God's  sake,  who  shall 
not  receive  manifold  more  in  this  present  time, 
and  in  the  world  to  come  life  everlasting."  We 
have  the  sacrifice,  the  toil,  the  weeping  here.  And 
who  but  a  faithful  minister  knows  the  import  of  these 


The  Growing  Responsibility,  etc.  285 


words,  "  hath  left  house,  or  parents,  or  brethren,  or 
wife,  or  children"?  Many  of  us,  it  is  true,  have 
neither  houses  or  lands  to  leave,  but  we  have  what  is 
infinitely  more  precious — father,  mother,  brothers  or 
sisters,  or  wife  and  children.  Who  knows  the  bitter 
struggle  through  which  we  passed  to  conquer  pride, 
ambition,  love  of  ease  and  self-indulgence ;  to  make 
our  wills  submissive,  our  hearts  obedient  to  the 
heavenly  calling ;  with  what  fear  and  trembling  we  left 
our  homes  and  loved  ones  for  our  first  fields  of  labor. 
But,  thank  God,  we  have  demonstrated  the  truth  of 
that  paradox,  "If  thou  wouldst  be  cheerful  be  sad." 
God  filled  our  eyes,  these  earthly  vessels,  full  to  the 
brim  with  bitter  tears,  and  then  turned  the  water  of 
tears  into  the  wine  of  joy.  This,  indeed,  is  a  "repent- 
ance not  to  be  repented  of."  "A  holy  mourning  out 
of  which  eternal  joy  doth  grow."  How  true  the 
promise  of  our  Master:  manifold  more  in  this  present 
life.  We  left  one  home,  we  have  a  thousand  ;  a  few 
friends,  and  have  many — some  of  whom  would  die 
for  us  any  day.  Who  among  us  has  not  found  fathers, 
and  mothers,  and  brothers,  and  sisters  by  the  score? 
But  the  Master  in  this,  as  in  every  feast,  has  left  the 
best  wine  for  the  last.  "  Life  everlasting : "  *  *  * 
"  shall  come  again  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him." 
We  have  sown  some  seed — sown  it  in  weakness  and 
with  weeping.  Sown  far  too  scantily  and  with  much 
trepidation;  but,  thank  God,  we  have  sown,  and  the 
harvest  is  sure.  All  things  else  may  fail — must  ulti- 
mately fail ;  but  God's  word  cannot. 


286  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


You  may  be  without  visible  seals  to  your  ministry, 
though  that  is  a  rare  exception;  but  toil  on  brother, 
God  will  take  care  of  the  precious  seed,  and  the 
angels  will  gather  the  harvest  by  and  by. 


THE  LIVING  SAVIOUR. 
By  Rev.  J.  J.  Hall,  D.  D., 

Pastor  of  Raleigh  Baptist  Tabernacle. 

**  Wherefore  he  is  able  also  to  save  them  to  the  uttermost  that  come 
unto  God  by  Him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for 
them."— Hebrews  vii :  25. 

Jesus  our  Saviour  is  a  theme  that  will  never  wear 
out,  nor  will  it  lose  its  attractive  power  to  the  Chris- 
tian. Do  we  not  connect  the  salvation  of  a  soul 
almost  exclusively  with  the  dying  or  the  dead  Christ  ? 
Here  we  find  the  writer  associating  it  with  the  liv- 
ing Christ,  the  risen  Lord,  the  exalted  One.  He  is 
able  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  because  "  He  ever 
liveth" 

Jesus  on  the  Cross  must  ever  appeal  to  our  love 
and  gratitude,  and  to  behold  Him  there  is  to  see  the 
great  procuring  cause  of  our  redemption.  "  God  forbid 
that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour."  And  yet  it  does  seem  peculiarly  fitting 
that  our  risen  Lord  should  bestow  salvation.  If  on 
the  cross,  when  His  hands  and  feet  were  nailed,  when 
He  appeared  in  utter  helplessness,  so  that  He 
responded  not  to  the  jeers  of  His  enemies  when  they 
taunted  Him  with  the  words,  "He  saved  others; 


The  Living  Saviour. 


287 


Himself  He  cannot  save.  If  Thou  be  the  Christ 
come  down  from  the  cross."  0,  if  then  He  could 
fling  wide  open  the  gates  of  glory  and  say  to  the  pen- 
itent thief  at  His  side,  "To-day  shalt  thou  be  with 
me  in  Paradise,"  how  much  more  can  He  now,  after 
having  triumphed  over  death,  hell  and  the  grave, 
give  eternal  life  to  all  who  believe  on  Him  ? 

To-night  Christ  appears  to  you  as  the  risen, 
ascended,  exalted  Lord ;  as  He  who  was  dead,  but  is 
alive  forevermore.  It  is  the  risen  Christ  who  is  able 
to  save.  He  has  been  manifesting  His  power  from 
the  time  He  ascended  on  high  to  the  present  hour, 
and  you  can  surely  trust  Him. 

A  risen  Christ  bestowing  salvation  presents  to  us 
two  or  three  interesting  thoughts,  to  which  I  invite 
your  attention. 

1.  We  see  Him  bestowing  upon  the  needy  such  bless- 
ings as  He  has  purchased  for  them  at  a  great  cost. 

Peter  tells  us  that  "  we  are  redeemed  not  with  cor- 
ruptible things,  such  as  silver  and  gold,  but  with 
the  precious  blood  of  Christ."  And  Paul  says, "  Ye 
are  bought  with  a  price."  The  price  paid  involved 
much — all  that  is  included  in  the  humiliation  of  the 
Son  of  God.  He  who  was  rich  for  our  sake  became 
poor.  The  lowly  birth  of  Bethlehem,  the  opposition 
met,  the  sufferings  endured,  the  agony  of  the  cross, 
being  made  a  curse  for  us — 

"  There's  not  a  gift  His  hand  bestows, 
But  cost  His  heart  a  groan." 


288  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


And  having  purchased  by  the  sacrifice  of  love 
blessings  for  the  perishing,  He  invites  us  to  come 
and  receive  them.  0,  that  the  sinner  might  know 
how  welcome  he  is  to  pardon,  peace,  strength,  hope 
and  eternal  life. 

I  see  a  man  of  means  who  has  become  interested 
in  some,  men  imprisoned  for  debt,  such  as  was  com- 
mon in  days  gone  by.  He  learns  their  liabilities, 
and,  at  a  great  cost  to  himself,  discharges  the  same, 
secures  the  receipt  and  takes  it  to  the  unfortunates, 
entreating  them  to  obtain  their  discharge  and  go 
free.  Some,  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  hear  the  news 
with  joy,  while  others  turn  sullenly  away  from  him. 
Christ  Jesus,  knowing  the  great  cost  of  redemption, 
having  met  that  cost  on  the  cross,  now  lives  to 
bestow  that  blessing  upon  all  who  come  to  Him  to 
receive  it. 

Christ  the  Conqueror.  As  the  great  Conqueror  our 
risen  Lord  gives  salvation  to  all  who  believe  on  Him. 
To-day  let  us  look  upon  our  Saviour,  not  as  the  one 
despised  and  rejected  of  men,  with  bare  back  receiv- 
ing cruel  flagellation,  nor  with  hands  tied  and  a 
crown  of  thorns  upon  His  brow. 

"  The  head  that  once  was  crowned  with  thorns 
Is  crowned  with  glory  now  ; 
A  royal  diadem  adorns 
The  mighty  Victor's  brow." 

"When  he  ascended  on  high  he  led  captivity  cap- 
tive" that  He  might  bestow  gifts  unto  men.  He 
went  up  as  the  triumphant  One.    Behold  Him  on 


The  Living  Saviour. 


289 


Mount  Olivet  after  His  resurrection.  He  is  convers- 
ing with  His  disciples,  and  while  His  hands  are 
raised  to  bless  them  He  commences  to  ascend ;  higher 
and  higher  He  rises;  the  astonished  disciples  gaze 
upward  as  His  body  seems  smaller  and  smaller  to 
their  view.  But  look !  the  very  battlements  of 
heaven  are  thronged  with  angels  who  are  gazing 
down  upon  this  strange  scene,  and  one  enquires, 
"Who  is  this  coining  up  from  the  earth?"  And  the 
answer  is,  "The  King  of  glory."  "Lift  up  your 
heads,  0  ye  gates,  and  be  ye  lifted  up  ye  everlast- 
ing doors;  and  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  in. 
Who  is  this  King  of  glory  ?  The  Lord  strong  and 
mighty ;  the  Lord  mighty  in  battle.  Lift  up  your 
heads,  0  ye  gates,  even  lift  them  up  ye  everlasting 
doors,  and  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  in.  Who 
is  this  King  of  glory?  The  Lord  of  hosts,  he  is  the 
King  of  glory." 

Christ  the  Conqueror  is  a  view  of  our  Lord  we  do 
not  often  take,  but  it  is  a  very  old  and  a  most  pre- 
cious one.  Far  back  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  it  was 
predicted  that  He  should  "  bruise  the  serpent's  head." 
With  the  foot  of  a  victor  will  He  tread  down  Satan. 
In  after  years  Isaiah,  the  prophet,  enquired,  "  Who 
is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom,  with  dyed  garments 
from  Bozrah?  this  that  is  glorious  in  his  apparel, 
traveling  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength  ? "  This 
is  but  a  picture  of  our  victorious  Lord.  He  has 
entered  the  enemy's  land.  He  fought  our  foes  for  us, 
and  vanquished  them  by  His  power.  What  are  your 
ememies?  Unbelief?  Drink?  Despondency?  You 
19 


290 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


have  no  right  to  be  overcome  by  them.  You  can- 
not subdue  them.  But  Christ  bath  done  it.  0,  come 
to  Him,  for  He  hath  won  the  victory  for  you. 

It  was  an  old  custom  to  divide  the  spoils.  The 
great  general  would  call  his  officers  around  him  after 
the  victory  and  be  lavish  with  his  gifts.  Do  you 
think  the  Captain  of  our  salvation  wishes  to  keep 
all  He  has  obtained?  Nay,  He  won  the  battle  for 
us — sin  and  Satan,  death  and  the  grave  are  conquered 
foes.  0,  that  you  might  share  in  the  shouts  of  tri- 
umph ! 

II.  Our  risen  Lord  secures  salvation  for  us,  in  that  He 
has  already  entered  heaven  and  there  appears  in  the 
presence  of  God  for  us. 

This  is  the  underlying  thought  of  the  text,  in 
which  He  is  presented  as  our  Advocate  on  high. 

And  surely  we  all  need  such  a  one.  We  are  weak, 
sinful  and  ignorant.  God  is  great  and  holy.  Shall 
we  rush  into  His  presence?  Can  we  plead  innocence 
before  Him?  Surely  not.  And,  beloved,  how  pre- 
cious that  we  need  not  go  alone.  The  intercessory 
work  of  Christ  may  not  be  easy  for  us  to  compre- 
hend, but  whatever  mystery  there  is  about  it  is  a 
mystery  of  mercy.  "Such  a  high  priest  became  us, 
who  is  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate  from 
sinners."  And  such  a  high  priest  we  have  in  Jesus 
Christ. 

"  Five  bleeding  wounds  He  bears, 
Received  on  Calvary, 
They  pour  effectual  prayers — 
They  strongly  plead  for  me, 
Forgive  Him,  O  !  forgive,  they  cry, 
Nor  let  that  ransomed  sinner  die." 


The  Living  Saviour.  291 


We  are  saved  because  of  that  which  He  has  done 
for  us.  His  claims  are  admitted  in  the  highest  court 
in  the  universe. 

By  the  bestowment  of  salvation  the  glory  of  our 
risen  Lord  is  greatly  promoted.  Why  is  He  called 
Jesus?  To  save  His  people  from  their  sins.  This  is 
His  great  work  now.  He  is  exalted  a  Prince  and  a 
Saviour.  By  it  He  receives  honor,  love  and  praise. 
And,  then,  this  work  is  His  delight.  The  physician 
is  made  glad  when  his  patients  recover;  the  bene- 
factor rejoices  when  destitution  gives  way  to  plenty 
and  he  beholds  smiles  of  gladness  on  the  face  down 
which  the  tear  of  sorrow  fell.  So  the  joy  of  Jesus  is 
realized  when  He  bestows  the  great  blessings  of  His 
love  upon  those  who  stand  in  great  spiritual  need. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  say,  these  views  ought  to 
make  the  Saviour  very  near  and  precious  to  us.  We 
have  a  living  Christ.  Supposing  my  child  received 
a  serious  injury,  and  a  friend  said  to  me,  "I  knew  a 
very  skillful  surgeon  who  made  a  specialty  of  just 
such  cases  as  your  son.  I  am  sure  that  he  cured  many 
persons  like  your  boy."  "Where  is  he?"  I  enquire. 
"0!"says  my  friend,  "he  is  dead;  been  dead  for 
many  years."  It  does  me  no  good  to  know  that  he 
once  lived  and  had  great  success.  Tell  me  of  one 
now  who  is  able  to  help.  A  dead  Christ  cannot  save. 
As  a  living  Saviour  He  has  as  much  power  to  say, 
"thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee,"  as  when  He  walked 
this  earth  of  ours. 

Here  then,  is  hope  for  all.  No  soul  need  despair. 
He  is  "  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost."    God  only 


292 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


knows  what  that  uttermost  is.  Many  sins  weigh 
upon  you;  years  of  guilt  condemn  you;  weakness 
has  come  to  you  and  the  outlook  is  dark.  But,  cheer 
up,  0 !  soul,  there  is  a  mighty  Saviour. 

But  the  question  after  all  is,  Has  He  saved  you  ? 
You  could  go  into  a  certain  home  in  New  York 
city  and  look  upon  a  framed  telegram.  It  has  in 
the  message  but  one  word,  and  that  is,  "Saved." 
There  is  an  exciting  story  connected  with  it.  How 
a  vessel  was  wrecked,  many  passengers  found  a 
watery  grave.  One  was  saved,  and  immediately 
upon  reaching  land  he  sent  on  the  message  to  his 
loved  ones,  "  Saved ! "  0 !  has  this  been  sent  heaven- 
ward for  you?  Is  it  written  on  your  heart?  Do 
men  see  it  as  you  walk  these  streets  that  you  are  a 
saved  person?    If  not,  why  not  be  saved  to-night? 

In  the  year  1865  the  Atlantic  Cable  was  lost  at 
sea.  Three  vessels,  the  Great  Eastern,  Medway  and 
the  Albany  went  out  in  search  for  it.  They  sank 
the  grapnel  two  miles  and  a  half  deep.  At  last  it 
was  found,  and  great  was  the  joy ;  but  it  slipped  and 
down  it  went.  For  two  weeks  longer  the  search  was 
continued.  Again  it  was  found,  and  in  breathless 
excitement  it  was  brought  up.  This  time  they 
fastened  it,  and  soon  found  it  was  responsive,  and 
that  by  it  a  message  could  be  sent.  I  am  grappling 
for  souls  to-night.  0 !  that  I  could  find  on  your 
part  some  expression  of  desire,  of  hope,  and  of  faith. 
May  Christ  save  every  one  of  you. 


The  Lost  Legacy. 


293 


THE  LOST  LEGACY. 
By  Rev.  P.  H.  Fleming, 
Pastor  of  the  Christian  Church  at  Graham,  N.  C. 

"And  these  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe:  In  my  name  shall 
they  cast  out  devils;  they  shall  speak  with  new  tongues;  they  shall 
take  up  serpents;  and  if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt 
them;  they  shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick  and  they  shall  recover."— Mark 
xvi :  17,  18. 

Many  of  us  have  been  taught  that  the  day  of 
miracles  passed  away  with  the  apostles.  We  are 
taught  that  the  extraordinar}^  gifts  which  were  be- 
stowed upon  the  primitive  church,  passed  away  with 
primitive  times.  This  I  seriously  question,  in  fact  I 
do  not  believe  it,  and  have  never  believed  such  teach- 
ing. Neither  do  I  see  how  anyone  else  can  believe 
such  teaching,  if  they  will  consider  the  words  of 
Christ.  Jesus  in  speaking  to  His  disciples  just  before 
He  was  received  up  into  heaven  said  to  them,  "  Go 
ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature.  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall 
be  saved ;  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." 
Now  we  are  taught  that  every  creature  through  all 
time  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved.  We 
are  taught  to  accept  these  words  just  as  we  find  them. 
This  commission  did  not  pass  away  with  the  apostles. 
Salvation  by  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  did  not  pass 
away  with  the  apostle,  nor  with  the  primitive  church. 

But  when  we  proceed  just  a  little  farther,  and  take 
something  else  that  this  same  Jesus  said,  at  the  same 
time,  to  the  same  apostles,  namely,  when  we  take  the 
words  of  the  text :   "  And  these  signs  shall  follow 


294  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


them  that  believe:  In  my  name  shall  they  cast  out 
devils;  they  shall  speak  with  new  tongues;  they 
shall  take  up  serpents ;  and  if  they  drink  any  deadly 
thing,  it  shall  not  hurt  them ;  they  shall  lay  hands 
on  the  sick,  and  they  shall  recover."  These  same 
teachers  who  claim  that  the  commission  to  preach 
the  gospel  has  not  passed  away,  tell  us  that  these 
signs  which  Christ  says  shall  follow  them  that  believe, 
passed  away  with  the  apostles.  Why  accept  the 
words  of  Christ  in  one  instance,  and  then  reject  them 
in  the  other?  Christ  says,  "He  that  believeth  and 
is  baptized  shall  be  saved."  In  this  instance  we 
accept  the  words  of  Christ,  and  profess  to  believe 
them.  But  when  we  come  to  the  signs  that  Christ 
says  shall  follow  them  that  believe,  most  people  are 
ready  to  say  that  these  signs  passed  away  with  the 
apostles,  or  with  the  primitive  days  of  Christianity. 
Judging  from  the  words  of  Jesus,  do  you  think  He 
intended  to  teach  that  these  signs  should  follow  none 
but  the  apostles  or  primitive  Christians?  Do  the 
words  of  the  Saviour — the  words  of  the  text — con- 
vey such  an  idea  to  candid  searchers  after  Bible 
truth?  Christ  says,  "These  signs  shall  follow  them 
that  believe:  In  my  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils; 
they  shall  speak  with  new  tongues;  they  shall  take 
up  serpents ;  and  if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing,  it 
shall  not  hurt  them;  they  shall  lay  hands  on  the 
sick  and  they  shall  recover."  And  I  believe  He 
meant  it  for  all  time.  His  language  does  not  limit 
these  signs  to  a  particular  age  or  generation.  But 
He  says,  "  These  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe." 


The  Lost  Legacy. 


295 


Another  instructor  in  biblical  law  comes  forward 
and  tells  that  there  is  ground  for  believing  that  the 
last  twelve  verses  of  the  gospel  by  Mark  were  not 
written  by  that  Evangelist. 

That  includes  the  text,  and  this  last  instructor 
would  lead  us  out  of  the  dilemma  by  striking  out  a 
part  of  the  gospel  by  Mark.  But  we  strike  out  noth- 
ing. The  evidences  of  our  expositor  are  not  suffi- 
cient. We  still  cling  to  the  text  just  as  we  have  it, 
and  stoutly  affirm  that  Christ  means  what  He  says — 
and  maintain  that  these  signs  did  follow  them  that 
believed  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity.  Let  us 
see  if  these  signs  did  follow  the  primitive  followers 
of  Christ. 

"  In  my  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils"  We  know 
from  Scripture  that  Jesus  cast  out  many  devils;  and 
we  learn  from  the  same  book  of  inspiration  and 
revelation  that  the  power  to  cast  out  devils  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  followed  the  first  believers  and  preach- 
ers of  Christ.  The  seventy  disciples  that  Christ  sent 
out,  two  and  two,  into  every  city  and  place  whither 
He  Himself  would  come,  returned  to  Christ  after 
fulfilling  their  mission,  with  joy,  saying,  "  Lord,  even 
the  devils  are  subject  unto  us  through  thy  name." 

On  one  occasion  the  disciples  saw  some  one  cast- 
ing out  devils  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  they  for- 
bade him.  John  reported  the  matter  to  Jesus,  and 
said,  "Master,  we  saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  thy 
name,  and  we  forbade  him,  because  he  followeth  not 
us."  "  Jesus  said  unto  him,  forbid  him  not:  for  he 
that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us."    We  learn  from  this 


296  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


instance  that  the  disciples  seemed  to  think  that  this 
power  to  cast  out  devils  belonged  to  Christ  and  His 
immediate  personal  followers.  But  Jesus  shows  by 
his  reply  that  others  besides  his  immediate  and  per- 
sonal attendants  had  the  right  and  power  to  cast  out 
devils  in  His  name.  That  others  besides  those  who 
heard  Him  with  the  natural  ears,  and  saw  Him  with 
the  natural  eyes,  had  the  right  and  power  to  perform 
miracles  in  His  name.  This  right  and  power  belongs 
to  them  that  believe.  In  the  name  of  Jesus  shall 
they  cast  out  devils. 

A  certain  damsel  possessed  with  a  spirit  of  divina- 
tion followed  Paul  and  his  companions  at  Philippi. 
And  she,  though  possessed  of  an  evil  spirit,  cried, 
saying,  "These  men  are  the  servants  of  the  most 
high  God,  which  show  unto  us  the  way  of  salvation. 
And  this  she  did  many  days.  But  Paul,  being 
grieved,  turned  and  said  to  the  spirit,  I  command 
thee  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  to  come  out  of  her. 
And  he  came  out  the  same  hour." 

"  God  wrought  special  miracles  by  the  hands  of 
Paul."  The  sacred  writer  informs  us  that  handker- 
chiefs or  aprons  from  the  body  of  Paul  were  brought 
unto  the  sick  and  the  disease  departed  from  them, 
and  the  evil  spirits  went  out  of  them.  The  text  tells 
us  that  to  cast  out  devils  in  the  name  of  Jesus  is  one 
of  the  signs  that  shall  follow  them  that  believe. 
There  must  be  belief  before  the  power  comes.  There 
is  no  power  without  faith.  We  have  recorded  an 
instance  in  which  certain  vagabond  Jews,  exorcists, 
undertook  to  cast  out  evil  spirits  by  calling  over 


The  Lost  Legacy. 


297 


them  which  had  evil  spirits  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  saying,  "  We  adjure  you  by  Jesus  whom  Paul 
preached."  "The  evil  spirit  answered  and  said, 
Jesus  I  know,  and  Paul  I  know;  but  who  are  ye?  " 
"  And  the  man  in  whom  the  evil  spirit  was  leaped 
on  them,  and  overcome  them,  and  prevailed  against 
them,  so  that  they  fled  out  of  the  house  naked  and 
wounded."  We  know  not  exactly  how  long  this 
power  to  cast  out  devils  in  the  name  of  Jesus  con- 
tinued. It  appears  by  the  testimony  of  early  writers 
that  this  power  to  cast  out  devils  was  more  common 
among  Christians  than  any  other,  and  that  it  lasted 
longer.  So  we  have  clearly  established  that  this 
sign,  the  power  to  cast  out  devils,  followed  the  prim- 
itive believers  for  a  considerable  time  after  the  ascen- 
sion of  Christ 

The  next  sign  mentioned  in  the  text  is  that  they  who 
believe,  11  shall  speak  with  new  tongues."  They  should 
speak  a  language  which  they  had  never  learned ;  and 
what  a  vast  amount  of  labor  and  time  it  saved  the 
early  preachers  of  Christianity.  By  a  miracle  they 
became  masters  of  the  language  in  which  they  were 
to  preach  Christ.  No  long  years  of  tedious  study  as 
we  have  in  this  day  to  learn  the  language  of  those 
who  know  not  God,  in  order  to  preach  Jesus  to  them. 
This  sign,  says  Christ,  shall  follow  them  that  believe: 
"  They  shall  speak  with  new  tongues;  "  and  this  sign 
did  follow  believers  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity. 
O,  what  a  grand  means  of  spreading  the  gospel ! 
What  a  divine  testation  of  confirming  the  truth  of 
the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ.    If  our  missionaries 


298  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


possessed  this  power  of  speaking  with  new  tongues, 
how  the  gospel,  it  seems  to  me,  would  spread  in 
heathen  lands.  I  believe  to  speak  with  new  tongues 
is  a  sign  and  power  which  belongs  to  those  who  are 
called  of  God  to  preach  the  gospel  to  those  of  a  dif- 
ferent tongue. 

Does  not  Christ  say  that  this  sign  shall  follow 
them  that  believe,  "  They  shall  speak  with  new 
tongues."  Did  He  say  how  long  this  sign  should 
follow  believers?  Has  He  ever  revoked  the  power 
of  speaking  with  new  tongues?  If  so,  when?  If 
Christ  has  not  revealed  the  power  of  speaking  with 
new  tongues;  then  why  do  we  accept  the  teachings 
of  those  who  say,  u  that  the  attestation  of  Christi- 
anity is  complete;  and  that  other  means  are  now  suf- 
ficient to  accomplish  the  end  for  which  miracles  were 
originally  designed."  Is  such  teaching  in  accord- 
ance with  the  words  of  Jesus  ?  Jesus  says  plainly 
and  pointedly,  that  u  these  signs  shall  follow  them 
that  believe  :  In  my  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils  ; 
they  shall  speak  with  new  tongues;  they  shall  take 
up  serpents;  and  if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing,  it 
shall  not  hurt  them;  they  shall  lay  hands  on  the 
sick,  and  they  shall  recover."  Have  we  no  heathen 
in  our  day,  who  are  just  as  ignorant  of  Jesus,  as 
were  many  of  those  visited  by  Paul  and  other  apos- 
tolic missionaries?  Are  their  souls  not  just  as  pre- 
cious in  the  sight  of  God  as  the  souls  of  the  heathen 
in  the  apostolic  times?  If  so,  why  have  the  power 
denied  us  to  speak  with  new  tongues?  By  speaking 
with  new  tongues  we  could  tell  the  dying  heathen 


The  Lost  Legacy. 


299 


at  once  of  Jesus  and  His  love.  Think,  may  this 
power  not  yet  belong  to  Christianity,  but  the  bene- 
fits of  which  we  reap  not  because  of  unbelief.  "All 
things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth."  Then 
may  we  not  be  losing  by  unbelief,  one  of  the  greatest 
means  of  spreading  the  gospel?  Have  we  any  right 
to  teach  that  this  gift  of  speaking  with  new  tongues 
passed  away  with  the  apostles,  when  Christ  says  that 
it  shall  follow  them  that  believe?  I  ask  candidly, 
have  we  a  right  to  teach  something  contrary  to  the 
words  of  Christ  because  we  have  lost  by  unbelief,  or 
because  we  have  never  had,  on  account  of  unbelief, 
some  of  the  signs  which  accompanied  believers  in 
the  early  days  of  Christianity?  Have  we  a  right  to 
so  interpret  the  words  of  Jesus  as  to  justify  the  posi- 
tion which  we  occupy?  Honest  minds  answer,  no! 
But  I  think  that  is  just  what  we  are  doing  when  we 
say  these  extraordinary  signs  which  accompany 
believers  in  the  early  stages  of  Christianity  were 
doomed  by  the  giver,  Christ,  to  pass  away  with  those 
days  and  people. 

I  am  frank  to  admit  that  many  of  these  signs  are 
gone,  to  us,  at  present;  but  I  believe  it  to  be  our 
fault.  We  lose  them  for  want  of  faith.  Christ  says, 
"  these  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe."  He 
does  not  limit  the  time.  Many  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians did  speak  with  new  tongues  as  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  when  people  from  almost  all  parts  of  the 
then  known  world  heard  the  gospel  in  their  own 
tongue.  While  Peter  preached  in  the  house  of  Cor- 
nelius the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  them  which  heard 


300 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


the  word,  and  they  spake  with  tongues  and  magni- 
fied God.  Thus  the  first  Gentile  converts  received 
this  sign.  They  spake  with  new  tongues.  Paul  laid 
his  hands  upon  certain  disciples  at  Ephesus  that  had 
been  baptized  unto  John's  baptism ;  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  came  on  them,  and  they  spake  with  tongues, 
and  prophesied.  Thus  the  gospel  was  introduced  at 
Ephesus  accompanied  by  one  of  the  signs  which 
Christ  says  shall  follow  them  that  believe:  "They 
shall  speak  with  new  tongues."  Paul,  in  his  letter 
to  the  Corinthians,  says :  "  I  thank  my  God,  I  speak 
with  tongues  more  than  ye  all."  We  have  proven 
to  us  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  power  to  speak  with 
new  tongues  followed  the  early  Christians. 

Ihe  third  sign  which  the  text  mentions  as  following 
them  that  believe  is  that,  "  They  shall  take  up  serpents" 
Christ  said  to  the  seventy  upon  their  return  to  Him  : 
"  Behold  I  give  unto  you  power  to  tread  on  serpents 
and  scorpions,  and  over  all  the  power  of  the  enemy ; 
and  nothing  shall  by  any  means  hurt  you."  We 
have  an  example  in  which  the  third  sign  mentioned 
•in  the  text  followed  an  early  pfeacher  of  the  gospel. 
Paul,  shipwrecked  on  a  barbarian  island,  gathered  a 
bundle  of  sticks,  laid  them  on  the  fire,  and  there 
came  out  of  the  heat  a  viper  and  fastened  on  his 
hand.  The  barbarians  saw  it  and  thought  that  ven- 
geance had  overtaken  an  escaped  murderer.  Paul 
"shook  off  the  beast  into  the  fire,  and  felt  no  harm." 
When  the  barbarians  saw  that  no  harm  came  to  Paul 
"  they  changed  their  minds,  and  said  that  he  was  a 
god."    We  are  told  that  Philip  preaching  that  Christ 


The  Lost  Legacy. 


301 


came  at  last  to  Hieropolis  in  Phrygia,  and  that  "  by 
his  prayers,  and  after  calling  on  the  name  of  Christ, 
he  procured  the  death,  or  at  least  the  vanishing,  of 
an  enormous  serpent,  to  which  they  paid  adoration. 

The  fourth  sign  mentioned  in  the  text  is  that  if 
believers  drink  any  deadly  thing  it  shall  not  hurt  them. 
If,  when  persecuted,  believers  are  compelled  by  their 
persecutors  to  drink  any  deadly  poison  it  shall  not 
hurt  them.  This  was  an  important  promise  to 
believers,  especially  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity, 
when  we  remember  that  the  practice  of  poisoning 
was  common  in  that  age,  and  that  executions  took 
place  frequently  by  poisoning;  and  it  might  be 
expected  that  the  enemies  of  Christians  would  seek 
in  this  way  to  destroy  them.  But  the  promise  is  that 
if  believers  drink  any  deadly  thing  it  shall  not  hurt 
them. 

The  fifth  sign  which  the  text  mentions  as  following 
them  that  believe,  is  this,  that  "  they  shall  lay  hands  on 
the  sick  and  they  shall  recover"  We  know  many 
instances  in  the  apostles'  times  in  which  this  was 
practiced  by  believers.  Many  of  the  elders  of  the 
church  had  this  power  to  heal  the  sick,  as  appears 
from  James  v:  14 — "Is  any  sick  among  you?  let  him 
call  for  the  elders  of  the  church ;  and  let  them  pray 
over  him,  anointing  him  with  oil  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord :  And  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick, 
and  the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up."  This  power  to 
heal  the  sick  is  not  enjoyed  by  the  professors  of  reli- 
gion at  the  present  time,  and  it  is  wrong,  in  my 
opinion,  to  keep  up  the  form  of  anointing  with  oil 


302  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


as  is  done  by  some  denominations,  when  the  power 
to  heal  is  not  there. 

Peter  possessed  this  power  to  a  wonderful  degree. 
*  "Insomuch  that  they  brought  forth  the  sick  into  the 
streets  and  laid  them  on  beds  and  couches,  that  at 
least  the  shadow  of  Peter  passing  might  overshadow 
some  of  them." 

Ananias  of  Damascus  placed  his  hands  on  blind 
Saul,  and  Saul  received  his  sight.  The  father  of 
Publius  lay  sick,  "  to  whom  Paul  entered  in,  and 
prayed,  and  laid  his  hands  on  him,  and  healed  him." 
Many  other  instances  might  be  given,  but  it  is 
enough  for  us  to  know  that  this  sign,  the  power  to 
heal  the  sick,  followed  believers  in  the  first  century 
and  possibly  longer.  We  have  accounts  of  this 
anointing  with  oil  and  healing  being  practiced  in 
the  church  two  hundred  years  after  Christ.  When 
that  miraculous  gift  of  healing  ceased,  this  right  of 
anointing  with  oil  was  laid  aside.  How  long  mira- 
cles continued  in  the  church  has  been  a  matter  of 
keen  dispute.  Some  say  they  continued  no  longer 
than  the  days  of  the  apostles;  others  maintain  that 
they  continued  long  after.  Burkitt,  in  his  notes  on 
the  New  Testament,  says,  "This  power  of  working 
miracles  continued  in  the  church  an  hundred  years 
after  Christ's  ascension,  until  Christianity  had  taken 
root  in  the  hearts  of  men.  Irenseus,  a  believer^second 
in  succession  after  John,  says,  that  many  believers,  be- 
sides the  apostles,  had  this  power  of  working  miracles. 
Gibbon  in  his  History  of  Rome  says,  "  The  Christian 
Church,  from  the  time  of  the  apostles  and  their  first 


The  Lost  Legacy. 


303 


disciples,  have  claimed  an  uninterrupted  succession 
of  miraculous  power,  the  gift  of  tongues,  of  visions, 
and  of  prophecy,  the  power  of  expelling  demons,  of 
healing  the  sick,  and  of  raising  the  dead.  The  knowl- 
edge of  foreign  language,"  he  says,  "  was  frequently 
communicated  to  the  contemporaries  of  Irenaeus, 
though  Irenaeus  himself  was  left  to  struggle  with  the 
difficulties  of  a  barbarous  dialect,  whilst  he  preached 
the  gospel  to  the  natives  of  Gaul."  We  know  that 
believers  once  possessed  the  power  to  work  miracles, 
and  we  further  know  that  Christ  says,  "  These  signs 
shall  follow  them  that  believe:  In  my  name  shall 
they  cast  out  devils ;  they  shall  speak  with  new 
tongues;  they  shall  take  up  serpents;  and  if  they 
drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt  them  ;  they 
shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick  and  they  shall  recover." 
Now  why  is  it  that  these  signs  do  not  now  follow 
professing  believers?  Is  it  that  there  are  none  who 
believe  ?  Or  is  it  that  the  day  of  miracles  has  ceased? 
Most  teachers  would  have  us  believe  that  the  day  of 
miracles  has  ceased.  If  so,  why  have  they  ceased? 
These  same  teachers  tell  us  that  the  gospel  is  suffi- 
ciently rooted  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men  as 
not  to  need  these  extraordinary  evidences  of  its  truth. 
A  very  plausible  reason,  since  these  miraculous  evi- 
dences do  not  follow  believers  in  this  day.  Such  an 
explanation  justifies  the  position  held  by  most  pro- 
fessing Christians,  and  prevents  an  inquiry  concern- 
ing Christ's  words  in  the  text.  We  must  not  infer 
that  everyone  of  the  early  Christians  possessed  the 
power  spoken  of  in  the  text.    "  For  to  one  is  given 


304 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


by  the  Spirit  the  word  of  wisdom ;  to  another  the 
word  of  knowledge  by  the  same  Spirit ;  to  another 
faith  by  the  same  Spirit ;  to  another  the  gifts  of  healing 
by  the  same  Spirit ;  to  another  the  working  of  mira- 
cles; to  another  prophecy;  to  another  discerning  of 
spirits;  to  another  divers  kinds  of  tongues;  to  an- 
other the  interpretation  of  tongues."  So  we  find 
that,  l' there  .are  diversities  of  gifts,  but  the  same 
Spirit.  And  there  are  differences  of  administrations 
but  the  same  Lord.  And  there  are  diversities  of 
operations,  but  it  is  the  same  God  which  worketh 
all  in  all."  This  power  of  working  miracles,  of  cast- 
ing out  devils,  of  speaking  strange  languages  aided 
wonderfully  in  spreading  and  propagating  thegospeL 
I  do  not  think  that  the  text  teaches,  that  all  who 
ever  believed,  would  be  enabled  to  work  miracles, 
or  that  none  except  those  who  had  saving  faith  would 
perform  them.  The  teaching  of  the  text  is,  that 
these  signs  would  follow  them  that  believe,  "  that  is, 
would  be  manifestly  displayed  among  them."  I  do 
not  think,  beloved,  that  the  day  of  miracles  has 
passed.  It  is  true  we  have  lost,  or  have  never  had, 
the  power  in  our  day  to  work  miracles.  But  why 
have  we  not  that  power?  We  have  the  same  source 
from  which  to  obtain  power.  The  same  means,  faith, 
by  which  it  is  obtained,  is  at  our  command,  if  we 
would  use  it.  May  it  not  be  that  we  have  not  these 
wonderful  signs  following  us,  because  we  have  not 
faith?  "And  these  signs  shall  follow  them  that 
believe."  Do  not  think  that  a  man's  salvation 
depends  upon  his  working  miracles,  for  such  a  thing 


The  Lost  Legacy. 


305 


is  not  true.  A  man  may  perform  miracles  and  yet 
be  lost.  Salvation  is  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ, 
not  through  the  power  to  work  miracles.  "  And 
though  I  have  all  faith  so  that  I  could  remove  moun- 
tains and  have  not  charity  I  am  nothing."  I  am 
firmly  of  the  opinion  that  believers  may  have  power 
to  perform  miracles,  when  called  of  God  for  the  spe- 
cial work  of  propagating  the  gospel.  If  necessary, 
miraculous  evidences  will  be  given  to  establish  the 
gospel,  provided  the  believer  exercises  the  necessary 
faith. 

But  seeing  we  have  not  power  to  work  miracles, 
let  us  inquire  into  the  reason  of  such  a  lack. 

Why  have  we  not  these  signs  following  us  in  this 
day?  There  must  be,  there  is,  a  reason.  What  can 
it  be?  Is  it  because  there  is  no  need  of  such  won- 
derful and  strong  evidences  to  convince  men  of  the 
truth,  and  bring  them  to  Christ?  Certainly  not. 
We  have  heathen,  I  think,  as  ignorant  of  Jesus  as 
those  of  the  apostolic  times.  Infidels,  atheists,  skep- 
tics are  in  our  midst,  and  the  church  is  destitute  of 
these  strong  evidences  of  primitive  times.  We  have 
a  great  deal  of  form,  but  very  little  power  of  godli- 
ness. Will  not  some  standard  be  raised  to  stay  the 
coming  enemy  of  unbelief?  We  have  God's  Word, 
and  it,  with  its  many  precious  promises,  is  sufficient 
to  subdue  every  enemy.  Will  we  as  professors  not 
avail  ourselves  of  God's  promises,  and  reap  the  ben- 
efit derived  therefrom?  Romanism,  with  its  errors 
and  fabulous  miracles ;  spiritualism,  with  its  pre- 
tended communication  with  departed  spirits ;  mate- 
20 


* 


306  North  Carolina  Sermons. 


rialism,  with  its  self-existentand  self-directed  theory; 
each,  it  seems  to  me,  demands  the  return  of  these 
primitive  gifts  which  believers  once  enjoyed.  If  the 
occasion  exists,  and  it  is  evident  to  my  mind  that  it 
does,  why  do  not  the  signs  which  once  followed  be- 
lievers follow  them  now?  There  is  but  one  answer 
which  I  deem  correct ;  and  it  is  this,  namely,  a  de- 
cline in  faith  brings  a  decline  in  miraculous  gifts.  I 
believe  the  power  to  work  miracles  has  been  lost  for 
a  time  by  want  of  faith  and  neglect  of  Christian 
duty.  When  we  have  faith  sufficient  we  will  have  a 
return  of  the  wonderful  gifts. 

Did  the  disciples  ever  fail  to  perform  miracles  when 
they  tried?  Yes.  We  have  one  noted  instance  in 
which  a  father,  who  had  a  son  possessed  with  a  dumb 
spirit,  besought  the  disciples  to  cast  the  spirit  out,  and 
they  could  not.  Now  the  day  of  miracles  had  not 
passed,  but  the  power  to  cast  the  dumb  spirit  out  of 
the  boy  the  disciples  had  not.  What  was  the  reason 
of  this  lack  of  power  ?  I  suppose  our  modern  teach- 
ers would  say  the  day  of  miracles  had  passed,  or  that 
the  gospel  was  sufficiently  rooted  in  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  men  as  not  to  need  such  a  miraculous  evi- 
dence of  the  power  of  Christ.  Such  was  not  the  rea- 
son. Christ  tells  the  disciples  when  they  asked  Him 
privately,  why  they  could  not  cast  out  the  spirit. 
"  This  kind,"  says  Jesus  "  can  come  forth  by  nothing 
but  by  prayer  and  fastings."  The  disciples  had  not 
used  the  means  at  hand  by  which  they  could  cast 
out  a  dumb  spirit,  and  hence  their  failure.  May  we 
not  from  this  instance  learn  why  it  is  that  professing 


The  Lost  Legacy. 


307 


believers  have  not  the  signs  mentioned  in  the  text 
following  them  to-day?  May  it  not  be  that  they 
use  not  the  means  which  bring  these  wonderful 
gifts,  and  hence  they  have  them  not.  "  These  signs 
shall  follow  them  that  believe."  God  who  can  and 
will  save  a  man,  when  he  accepts  Christ,  can  and 
will  make  a  sick  man  well  when  the  necessary  faith 
is  exercised  by  the  afflicted.  If  we,  dear  friends, 
have,  by  unbelief,  lost  these  signs  which  Christ  says 
shall  follow  them  that  believe,  let  us  by  faith  find 
them.  Remember  that  there  is  no  power  without 
faith.  Any  departure  from  God's  law  is  attended  by 
loss  of  power.  Did  prophets  cease  to  be  before  the 
Jews  lost  the  power  of  godliness?  Did  the  Jewish 
nation  decline  before  they  forgot  God  ?  Did  these 
wonderful  signs  which  followed  believers  in  the  early 
days  of  the  gospel  cease  to  exist  before  the  believers 
lost  the  faith  by  which  these  signs  were  wrought? 
Ah  !  beloved,  I  fear  we  have  a  form  of  godliness,  but 
deny  the  power  thereof. 

Without  a  belief  in  miracles,  the  sad-hearted 
mother  imprints  the  last  kiss  upon  the  brow  of  her 
babe  cold  in  death,  with  never  a  hope  of  seeing  and 
meeting  her  little  one  in  some  better  clime.  Without 
a  belief  in  miracles,  we  say  good-bye  to  loved  ones  in 
the  hour  of  death,  and  there  is  no  hope  of  meeting 
where  parting  is  no  more.  Be  of  good  cheer,  beloved. 
God  will  gather  up  all  thy  loved  ones,  and  you  shall 
see  them  again.  Yes,  we  believe  in  the  resurrection. 
We  preach  it;  and  we  like  to  think  of  it.  Oh!  it 
was  sad  when  we  said  farewell ;  our  lips  quivered, 


308  North  Carolina  Sermons. 

our  eyes  bedim med  with  tears,  our  hearts  sad;  our 
lips  moved,  but  not  a  word  they  said  ;  our  hands 
pressed  their  hands,  our  lips  kissed  the  brow  of  the 
loved  dead ;  it  was  our  hearts  that  said  farewell. 
The  heart  spoke  not  in  words,  but  we  knew  it  was 
saying  good-bye. 

It  is  sad  to  say  farewell  to  those  who  are  dying  ; 
but  how  sweet  to  think  of  greeting  on  the  eternal 
shore  of  rest,  sweet  rest.  We  believe  there  have  been 
miracles.  To  doubt  the  miracles  of  the  past,  is  to 
doubt  God's  Word.  We  believe  there  will  be  mira- 
cles. To  doubt  the  miracles  which  will  be  is  to  deny 
the  resurrection.  We  believe  in  miracles;  we  hope 
in  them,  and  we  love  to  sing — 

"  We  shall  sleep,  but  not  forever, 

There  will  be  a  glorious  dawn  ! 
We  shall  meet  to  part  no  never, 

On  the  resurrection  morn  ! 
From  the  deepest  caves  of  ocean, 

From  the  desert  and  the  plain, 
From  the  valley  and  the  mountain , 

Countless  throngs  shall  rise  again. 

When  we  see  a  precious  blossom 

That  we  tended  with  such  care, 
Rudely  taken  from  our  bosom, 

How  our  aching  hearts  despair! 
Round  its  little  grave  we  linger, 

Till  the  settiug  sun  is  low, 
Feeling  all  our  hopes  have  perished 

With  the  flow'r  we  cherished  so. 

We  shall  sleep,  but  not  forever, 

In  the  lone  and  silent  grave; 
Blessed  be  the  Lord  that  taketh, 

Blessed  be  the  Lord  that  gave. 
In  the  bright  eternal  city, 

Death  can  never  come  ! 
In  His  own  good  time  He'll  call  us. 

From  our  rest,  to  Home,  sweet  Home." 


The  Lost  Legacy. 


309 


When  we  lay  our  loved  ones,  cold  in  death,  down 
in  the  dark  and  silent  grave,  it  is  with  a  hope  that 
we  shall  meet  them  in  a  better  clime. 

When  a  mother  buries  the  brightest  flower  of  her 
household  in  the  cheerless  grave,  it  is  with  a  hope 
that  it  will  come  forth  on  the  resurrection  morn,  and 
blossom  ever  more  in  an  eternal  home  of  love. 

We  believe  there  will  be  a  resurrection.  To  doubt 
the  resurrection,  is  to  enshroud  loving  and  tender 
hearts  in  the  blackest  gloom  of  midnight.  It  is  to 
say  good-bye  to  happiness,  to  heaven,  and  to  loved 
ones  at  life's  latest  hour,  without  a  hope  of  ever  see- 
ing them  in  that  rest  which  "remaineth  for  the  peo- 
ple of  God."  There  can  be  no  resurrection  without 
a  miracle.  We  believe  in  the  miracles  of  the  past; 
we  believe  there  will  be  miracles  in  the  future;  then 
why  not  believe  now  the  words  of  Jesus,  when  He 
says  "  These  signs  shall  follow  them  that  believe:  In 
my  name  shall  they  cast  out  devils ;  they  shall  speak 
with  new  tongues ;  they  shall  take  up  serpents ;  and 
if  they  drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  not  hurt 
them ;  shall  lay  hands  on  the  sick,  and  they  shall 
recover." 


310 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


ON  THE  DIVINITY  OF  CHRIST. 
By  Theo.  H.  Hill, 
Of  Raleigh,  North  Carolina 

"  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and 
the  Word  was  God."— John  i :  1. 

This  is  the  first  utterance  of  St.  John  the  Evan- 
gelist in  attestation  of  the  essential  Divinity  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Of  all  men,  "the  beloved  disci- 
ple" knew  him  best,  and  he  wrote  by  inspiration  of 
God,  the  Holy  Ghost.  His  testimony  is  therefore 
true. 

No  one  will  deny  that  St.  John,  in  this  verse, 
designates  Christ  as  "  the  Word,"  and  accords  un- 
equivocally to  Him  the  attributes  of  God. 

First,  underived  self-existence,  for,  "in  the  begin- 
ning was  the  Word."  By  the  expression,  "and  the 
Word  was  with  God,"  equality  with  the  Father  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  explicitly  declared,  and  the  climax 
follows — an  irresistible  conclusion  from  the  previous 
predicates — "  and  the  Word  was  God." 

If,  then,  Christ  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was 
God,  then  was  Christ  verily  God. 

In  John  i:  3,  we  have  these  words:  "All  things 
were  made  by  Him,  and  without  Him  was  not  any- 
thing made  that  was  made." 

Omnipotence  is  an  inalienable  attribute  of  God. 
He  who  made  all  things  is  God.  All  things  were 
made  by  Christ,  so  Christ  is  God.  In  John  i :  12,  it  is 
said,  "But  as  many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave 
He  power  to  become  the  Sons  of  God."    This  power 


On  the  Divinity  of  Christ.  311 


to  become  the  Sons  of  God,  is  in  the  gift  of  God 
alone.  If  Christ  bestowed  and  still  bestows  this 
power,  then  Christ  is  God. 

In  John  iii :  13,  Christ  says  to  Nicodemus,  "  And 
no  man  hath  ascended  up  to  heaven,  but  he  that 
came  down  from  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  man  which 
is  in  heaven."  Here  omnipresence  is  claimed  by 
Christ,  for  God  only  could  be  on  earth,  and  still 
remain  in  heaven. 

Christ  claimed  and  exercised  the  power  to  forgive 
sins.  When  the  Pharisees  reasoned  within  them- 
selves, "  Why  doth  this  man  thus  speak  blasphemies? 
Who  can  forgive  sins  but  God  ouly  ?  "  Christ  proved 
the  divinity  He  claimed,  and  exhibited  present  om- 
niscience, as  well  as  omnipotence,  by  reading  the 
thoughts  of  their  hearts,  and  saying  to  the  sick  of 
the  palsy,  whose  sins  he  had  pronounced  forgiven, 
*  Arise,  take  up  thy  bed  and  walk." 

The  miracles  performed  by  Jesus  Christ  attest  His 
divinity.  They  were  wrought  by  the  power  of  God 
and  He  claimed  to  exercise  this  power  in  His  own 
right  and  name.  He  suspended  the  laws  of  Nature  at 
will.  Asleep  "  in  the  hinder  part  of  the  ship,"  He  was 
awakened  by  His  affrighted  disciples  when  a  tempest 
came  down  on  the  Sea  of  Tiberias.  He  spake,  and 
the  cyclone  was  hushed  to  a  whisper,  and  the  angry 
billows  fawned  at  His  feet. 

He  gave  the  people  bread  in  the  wilderness,  multi- 
plying a  few  loaves  and  fishes  by  the  same  creative 
power  by  which  He  had  "framed  the  worlds."  He 
healed  all  manner  of  diseases,  cast  out  devils,  gave 


312 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


sight  to  the  blind,  speech  to  the  dumb,  hearing  to 
the  deaf,  and  life  to  the  dead.  All  these  wonders 
were  wrought  in  His  own  name  and  in  virtue  of  His 
absolute,  inherent,  substantial  oneness  with  God  the 
Father  and  God  the  Holy  Ghost.  To  these  we  must 
add  that  crowning  miracle — His  own  resurrection, 
for  "  He  arose  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day." 
These  things  were  not  done  in  a  corner.  Christ's 
miracles  were  many  and  public,  invariably  benefi- 
cent in  purpose  and  result,  and  were  (with  but  few 
exceptions)  done  in  the  presence  of  His  enemies. 
Their  genuineness  was  not  impugned  by  His  con- 
temporaries, and  there  is  no  human  testimony  which 
in  point  of  credibility  can  be  compared  with  the  con- 
current utterances  of  the  evangelists  and  apostles. 

In  view  of  His  wonderful  works,  and  of  the  mirac- 
ulous and  minute  fulfillment  of  numerous  and  seem- 
ingly conflicting  prophecies  in  relation  to  His  birth, 
His  ministry,  His  death  and  His  exaltation,  it  is 
strange  that  the  truth  of  His  perfect  humanity  has 
not  been  assailed  by  deists  and  agnostics,  rather  than 
the  impregnable  stronghold  ef  His  divinity. 

The  timid  seeker  after  truth,  who  came  to  Him  by 
night,  not  only  said, "  We  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher 
come  from  God,"  but  added,  "  for  no  man  can  do  the 
miracles  that  thou  doest  except  God  be  with  him." 
"Immanuel"  was  one  of  the  prophetic  designations 
of  the  promised  Messiah,  and,  being  interpreted,  is 
"  God  with  us."  How  deep  the  significance  of  this 
name  appears,  as  we  ponder  the  words  of  Nicodemus, 
"  except  God  be  with  him" ! 


On  the  Divinity  of  Christ. 


313 


After  His  resurrection,  Christ  said  to  one  of  his 
disciples,  "  Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  behold  my 
hands ;  and  reach  hither  thy  hand,  and  thrust  it  into 
my  side;  and  be  not  faithless  but  believing  "  "And 
Thomas  answered  and  said  unto  him,  My  Lord  and 
my  God." 

The  witnesses  of  His  ascension — u  the  eleven,"  and 
they  that  were  with  them — "  worshipped  Him  as  He 
was  parted  from  them,  and  carried  up  into  heaven." 

St.  Jude  calls  Christ  "  the  only  wise  God,  our 
Saviour."  St.  Paul  says  that  "  He  is  God  over  all, 
blessed  forever";  that  "all  things  were  created  by 
him,  and  for  him  " ;  that  "  He  is  before  all  things, 
and  by  him  all  things  consist,  and  that  "in  Him 
dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily." 
Isaiah  styles  Him  "  the  mighty  God,  the  Everlasting 
Father,"  and  represents  Him  as  calling  on  lost  sin- 
ners, saying,  "  Look  unto  Me,  and  be  saved,  for  1  am 
God,  and  there  is  none  else,  and  beside  me  there  is 
no  Saviour." 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  citations  from  Holy 
Scripture  attesting  this  glorious  truth,  but  we  will 
close  with  Christ's  own  declarations:  "  Before  Abra- 
ham was,  I  Am,"  and  "  I  and  my  Father  are  one." 

It  has  thus  been  shown  that  Jesus  the  Christ  pub- 
licly, frequently  and  explicitly  asserted  for  Himself 
ineffable  unity  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  either  this  claim  was  true  or  He  was  false.  He 
"  who  spake  as  never  man  spake,"  w7as  either  very 
God,  or  the  veriest  impostor.  Faith  in  falsehood  is 
death  to  the  soul,  but  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 


314 


North  Carolina  Sermons. 


is  life  from  the  dead,  for  its  vitalizing,  transforming 
power  has  raised  millions  of  our  race  from  the  death 
in  trespasses  and  in  sins  to  a  life  of  righteousness. 
To  sincere  seekers  after  truth  in  every  age,  He  who 
is  "the  Life,  the  Truth,  and  the  Way,"  has  not  left 
Himself  without  witness;  but  it  is  true  now,  as  it 
was  when  "  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt 
among  us,"  that  "  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the 
things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness 
unto  him  ;  neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they 
are  spiritually  discerned."  It  is  as  true  now,  as  then, 
that  "  God  resisteth  the  proud,  but  giveth  grace  to 
the  humble." 

If  they  only  had  ears  to  hear,  with  what  startling 
emphasis  would  this  declaration  of  the  Saviour, 
whom  they  reject  and  despise,  penetrate  the  souls  of 
scoffers  and  skeptics  in  these  "  latter  days  " — "  If  they 
hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  will  they  be 
persuaded  though  one  rose  from  the  dead" 


\ 


1 


NORTH  . 


CAROLINA 
SERMONS 


THIRTY 
SERMONS 


BY 


1 


THIRTY 
NORTH 
CAROLINA 

PREACHERS 


